Viterbi School of Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Courses of Instruction
Biomedical Engineering (BME)
The terms indicated are expected but are not guaranteed. For the courses offered during any given term, consult the Schedule of Classes.
BME 101 Introduction to Biomedical Engineering (3, Fa) Historical development and survey of major areas comprising biomedical engineering: theoretical neurobiology and systems physiology, biomedical instrumentation, artificial organ and prosthetic devices, biomedical computer applications.
BME 201 Biomedical Engineering Practice (2, Fa) Examination of the technical and practical challenges involved in the development of medical devices, including neural implants, in industry and the clinical setting. Recommended preparation: BME 101.
BME 210 Biomedical Computer Simulation Methods (3, Sp) Computational methods for simulation of circulatory, respiratory, pharmacokinetic, and neural models. Quadrature, differential equations, systems of linear equations, simulation languages, experimental statistics. Prerequisite: EE 150L; corequisite: MATH 245.
BME 302L Medical Electronics (4, Sp) Electronic design and measurements for medical applications. Use of integrated circuits, biopotential measurements, static and dynamic calibration of physiological transducers. Prerequisite: EE 202L.
BME 350 Biomedical Engineering Industrial Project (3, Sp) Training in specific skills relevant to biomedical industry. Placement in summer internship following successful completion of the course. Junior standing. Prerequisite: BME 210.
BME 390 Special Problems (1-4) Supervised, individual studies. No more than one registration permitted. Enrollment by petition only.
BME 402 Control and Communication in the Nervous System (3, Sp) An introduction to the structural and functional elements common to nervous systems, with emphasis on cellular dynamics, interneuronal communication, sensory and effector systems. Prerequisite: BISC 220L, BME 210, MATH 245.
BME 403 Physiological Systems (3, Fa) A thorough bioengineering treatment of the physiological properties of various mammalian organ systems: e.g., cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, and musculoskeletal. Prerequisite: BISC 220L, MATH 245; corequisite: EE 202L.
BME 404 Biomechanics (3, Fa) Mechanical properties of biological tissues and fluid transport in physiological systems: blood rheology; bioviscoelastic solids and fluids; gas flow and mixing; prosthesis design. Prerequisite: PHYS 151L; MATH 245; AME 201.
BME 405L Senior Projects: Measurements and Instrumentation (4, FaSp) Application of instrumentation and measurement techniques to biomedical engineering projects involving measurement, replacement or augmentation of biomedical systems. Prerequisite: BME 210, EE 202L.
BME 410 Introduction to Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (3, Fa) Application of principles of physical chemistry, biochemistry, and materials engineering to biomedical problems, e.g., materials selection and design for implants and tissue replacement. Prerequisite: CHEM 322aL.
BME 412 Craniofacial and Dental Technology (4) (Enroll in DENT 412)
BME 414 Rehabilitation Engineering (3, Sp) An introduction to rehabilitation technology: limb and spinal orthoses; limb prostheses; functional electrical stimulation; sensory aids. Recommended preparation: AME 201.
BME 416 Development and Regulation of Medical Products (3, Sp) An introduction to the process of medical product development with emphasis on the regulations that govern the design, fabrication, and maintenance of medical products. Junior standing.
BME 423 Statistical Methods in Biomedical Engineering (3, Fa) Applications of parametric and non-parametric tests, analysis of variance, linear regression, time-series analysis, and autoregressive modeling, with biomedical applications to statistical analysis of biomedical data. Prerequisite: BME 210.
BME 425 Basics of Biomedical Imaging (3, Fa) Engineering, clinical applications and modern physics concepts underlying X-ray imaging, Computed Tomography (CT), nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), ultrasound imaging. Prerequisite: PHYS 152L.
BME 451 Fundamentals of Biomedical Microdevices (3, Fa) Introduction to biomedical microdevices with emphasis on microtechnologies and biomedical microelectromechanical systems (bioMEMS). Principles for measurement of small-scale biological phenomena and clinical applications. Prerequisite: EE 202L; recommended preparation: basic biology and electronics.
BME 452 Introduction to Biomimetic Neural Engineering (3, Fa) Engineering principles, biology, technological challenges and state-of-the-art developments in the design of implantable biomimetic microelectronic devices that interface with the nervous system. Prerequisite: EE 202; recommended preparation: basic biology and electronics.
BME 453 Engineering Biomedical Innovations (3, Sp) Engineering principles in design, modeling, and analysis of biomedical innovations will be presented to develop creative solutions for real-world medical problems or treatment implementation. Corequisite: BME 405L; recommended preparation: BME 416.
BME 489 Biochemical Engineering (3, Sp) (Enroll in CHE 489)
BME 490x Directed Research (1-8, max 12) Individual research and readings. Not available for graduate credit.
BME 499 Special Topics (2-4, max 8) Current trends and developments in the field of biomedical engineering.
BME 501 Advanced Topics in Biomedical Systems (4, FaSp) Advanced topics in selected biomedical systems: cardiopulmonary, neuromuscular, renal and endocrine.
BME 502 Advanced Studies of the Nervous System (4, Fa) Advanced topics on the structure and function of the nervous system examined from the viewpoint of computational systems science.
BME 504 Neuromuscular Systems (3, Fa) Introduces the fundamentals of mathematical, Newtonian, and robotic analysis applicable to multi-muscle biomechanical systems. Combines physiology with numerical simulations to understand and predict motor function. Recommended Preparation: Matlab programming, fundamentals of mechanics, linear algebra.
BME 505abL Laboratory Projects in Biomedical Engineering (4, FaSpSm) Integration of biomedical science, engineering principles and state-of-the-art technology for the study of selected physiological systems in the laboratory setting. Laboratory. Graded CR/NC.
BME 511 Physiological Control Systems (3, Fa) Application of control theory to physiological systems; static analysis of closed-loop systems; time-domain analysis of linear control identification methods; nonlinear control. Recommended preparation: BME 513.
BME 513 Signal and Systems Analysis (3, Sp) Classification; representation; statistical analysis; orthogonal expansions; least-squares estimation; harmonic analysis; Fourier, Laplace, and Z transforms; the linear system; filtering; modeling and simulation; linear control theory.
BME 520 Modeling of Bio-Systems (3, Sp) (Enroll in AME 520)
BME 523 Measurement and Processing of Biological Signals (3, Fa) Acquisition, analysis, and display of biological data using digital computers; laboratory applications of digital signal processing and real time analysis. Prerequisite: BME 513.
BME 525 Advanced Biomedical Imaging (3, Sp) Advanced scientific and engineering principles of biomedical imaging including magnetic resonance, X-ray computed tomography, ultrasound, and single photon and positron emission tomography. Open only to master’s and doctoral students. Prerequisite: BME 513 or EE 483.
BME 527 Integration of Medical Imaging Systems (3, Fa) Medical imaging quality, compression, data standards, workflow analysis and protocols, broadband networks, image security, fault tolerance, picture archive communication system (PACS), image database and backup.
BME 528 Medical Imaging Informatics (3, Sp) Picture archive communication system (PACS) design and implementation; clinical PACS-based imaging informatics; telemedicine/teleradiology; image content indexing, image data mining; grid computing in large-scale imaging informatics; image-assisted diagnosis, surgery and therapy. Prerequisite: BME 425 or BME 525, BME 527.
BME 533 Seminar in Bioengineering (1, max 3, FaSp) Graded CR/NC.
BME 535 Ultrasonic Imaging (3, Sp) All aspects of ultrasonic imaging including ultrasound and tissue interaction, ultrasonic transducers, instrumentation, imaging methods, clinical applications, bioeffects, safety, and recent developments in the field.
BME 536 Ultrasonic Transducers (3, Fa) Background and foundation covering the design, fabrication and testing of ultrasonic transducers and arrays. Design approaches, modeling tools will be discussed. Design project assigned.
BME 551 Introduction to Bio-MEMS and Nanotechnology (3, Sp) Principles and biomedical applications of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanotechnology, including microfluidics, nanowire sensors, nanomotors, quantum dots, biofuel cells and molecular imaging. Recommended preparation: Basic biology and electronics.
BME 552 Neural Implant Engineering (3, Sp) Advanced studies of the basic neuroscience, engineering design requirements and technological issues associated with implantable neural prostheses, with particular emphasis on retinal and cortical function.
BME 566abcd Topics in Health, Technology and Engineering (a: 2, Fa; b: 2, Sp; c: 2, Fa; d: 2, Sp) Interdisciplinary approach to impart the skills, knowledge and familiarity with stages of collaborative projects related to medical device and methods innovation in health care settings. Open only to health, technology and engineering majors. c: Concurrent enrollment: BME 567a. d: Concurrent enrollment: BME 567b.
BME 567ab Case Studies in Health, Technology and Engineering (a: 1, Fa; b: 1, Sp) Learning from cases illustrating paths from health care problems to solutions. Faculty, students and invited guests will provide examples of both successful and unsuccessful innovation attempts. Open only to health, technology and engineering students. a: Concurrent enrollment: BME 566c. b: Concurrent enrollment: BME 566d.
BME 575L Computational Neuroengineering (3, Sp) Introduction to computational modeling in neuroengineering, anchored in examples of brain function. Topics include transduction, synapses, spiking, networks, normalization, learning, Bayesian models, and Kalman filtering. Prerequisite: BME 502.
BME 590 Directed Research (1-12) Research leading to the master’s degree. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the department. Graded CR/NC.
BME 594abz Master’s Thesis (2-2-0) Credit on acceptance of thesis. Graded IP/CR/NC.
BME 599 Special Topics (2-4, max 9) Current trends and developments in the field of biomedical engineering.
BME 620L Applied Electrophysiology (4, Fa) The theoretical basis and applied design principles for medical devices and instrumentation that interact with electrically excitable tissues of the body. Prerequisite: BME 502.
BME 650 Biomedical Measurement and Instrumentation (3, Sp) Design of measurement systems and biomedical instrumentation; architecture of electronic instruments used to measure physiological parameters, analysis of major process functions integrated in these instruments. Open to M.S., Medical Device and Diagnostic Engineering and biomedical engineering Ph.D. students only. Recommended preparation: BME 513.
BME 670 Early Visual Processing (4, Fa) Interdisciplinary topics in biological and artificial low-level visual processing. Retina, lateral geniculate nucleus; computer vision; neurophysiology, retinal prosthesis; molecular biology, phototransduction; edge detection; movement. Open to graduate students only. Prerequisite: NSCI 524 or BME 502 or CSCI 574.
BME 671 Late Visual Processing (4, Sp) Interdisciplinary topics in biological and artificial high-level visual processing. Visual cortex; computer vision; neurophysiology; psychophysics; MRI; computational models; orientation selectivity; steropsis; motion; contours; object recognition. Open to graduate students only. Prerequisite: NSCI 524 or BME 502 or CSCI 574.
BME 680 Modeling and Simulation of Physiological Systems (3, Irregular) Mathematical theories and computation techniques for modeling physiological systems, with emphasis on cardiorespiratory, metabolic-endocrine, and neuronal functions.
BME 790 Research (1-12) Research applicable to the doctorate. Graded CR/NC.
BME 794abcdz Doctoral Dissertation (2-2-2-2-0) Credit on acceptance of dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.