Search

This book disseminates information on paper-based diagnostics devices and describes novel paper materials, fabrication techniques, and Basic Paper-based microfluidics/electronics theory. The section on sample preparation, paper-based electronics/sensors for developing paper-based point-of-care (POC) systems also contains detailed descriptions. In the application sections this book covers sensing technique for DNA/RNA, bacteria/virus and integration of lateral flow assay. The book provides deep understanding and knowledge of paper-based diagnostic device development in terms of concept, materials, fabrication and applications.

This book gathers selected, extended and revised contributions to the 18th International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, held on May 3-5, 2023, at Arts Et Métiers - Institute Of Technology, in Paris, France. They highlight cutting-edge advances in computational modelling in biomedical engineering, discusses new developments on imaging and visualization, as well as solutions for applying them in the clinical practice. All in all, this book offers a timely snapshot of the latest research and current challenges at the interface between biomedical engineering, computational biomechanics and biological imaging. It also aims at fostering future, cross-disciplinary collaborations.

Biomechanics has a distinguished history extending at least to the 16th Century. However the later half oftbis century has seen an explosion ofthe field with it being viewed as affering exciting challenges for physical scientists and engineers interested in the life sciences, and wonderful opportunities for life scientists eager to collaborate with physical scientists and engineers and to render their scientific work more fundamental. That the field is now weil established and expanding is demonstrated by the formation of a World Committee for Biomechanics and the success and large participation in the 1st and 2nd World Congresses of Biomechanics, held respectively in San Diego in 1990 and in Amsterdam in 1994. With more than 1350 scientific papers delivered at the 2nd World Congress, either within symposia or oral or poster sessions, it would have been out of the question to try to produce comprehensive edited proceedings. Moreover, we are confident that most of the papers have been or will be published in one ofthe excellentjoumals covering the field. But of effort contributed by the plenary lecturers and the tutorial we thought that the large amount and keynote speakers of various symposia deserved tobe recognised in the form of a specific publication, thus also allowing those unable to attend the presentatiops.. tC\ sh?r~ in the findings. Furthermore, we feel that there is now a need to review aspects'oftlie freld.

This book introduces senior-level and postgraduate students to the principles and applications of biophotonics. It also serves as a valuable reference resource or as a short-course textbook for practicing physicians, clinicians, biomedical researchers, healthcare professionals, and biomedical engineers and technicians dealing with the design, development, and application of photonics components and instrumentation to biophotonics issues. The topics include the fundamentals of optics and photonics, the optical properties of biological tissues, light-tissue interactions, microscopy for visualizing tissue components, spectroscopy for optically analyzing the properties of tissue, and optical biomedical imaging. It also describes tools and techniques such as laser and LED optical sources, photodetectors, optical fibers, bioluminescent probes for labeling cells, optical-based biosensors, surface plasmon resonance, and lab-on-a-chip technologies. Among the applications are optical coherence tomography (OCT), optical imaging modalities, photodynamic therapy (PDT), photobiostimulation or low-level light therapy (LLLT), diverse microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, tissue characterization, laser tissue ablation, optical trapping, and optogenetics. Worked examples further explain the material and how it can be applied to practical designs, and the homework problems help test readers'understanding of the text.This second edition provides updates as follows:1) Updated references in each chapter with recent review papers, tutorials, and generic research results.2) New sections in Chap. 3 addressing tapered fibers for sensors, biocompatibility issues of optical fibers, and concepts of implantable fibers.3) Updates in Chaps. 4 and 5 on optical sources and photodetectors discussing fiber-based sources, silicon photomultipliers, and high-speed cameras for biosensing.4): Sections on improvements in microscopy, imaging, spectroscopy, and sensing in Chapters 7–10. 5) New biophotonic application techniques in Chap. 11 will include optogenetic advances, smart phones for imaging, wearable biophotonic sensors, and robotic surgery and light therapy.

This book includes high-quality papers presented at the Second International Symposium on Computer Vision and Machine Intelligence in Medical Image Analysis (ISCMM 2021), organized by Computer Applications Department, SMIT in collaboration with Department of Pathology, SMIMS, Sikkim, India, and funded by Indian Council of Medical Research, during 11 – 12 November 2021. It discusses common research problems and challenges in medical image analysis, such as deep learning methods. It also discusses how these theories can be applied to a broad range of application areas, including lung and chest x-ray, breast CAD, microscopy and pathology. The studies included mainly focus on the detection of events from biomedical signals.

This is a graduate-level introduction to quantitative concepts and methods in the science of living systems. It relies on a systems approach for understanding the physical principles operating in biology. Physical phenomena are treated at the appropriate spatio-temporal scale and phenomenological equations are used in order to reflect the system of interest. Biological details enter to the degree necessary for understanding specific processes, but in many cases the approach is not reductionist. This is in line with the approach taken by physics to many other complex systems.The book bridges the gap between graduate students'general physics courses and research papers published in professional journals. It gives students the foundations needed for independent research in biological physics and for working in collaborations aimed at quantitative biology and biomedical research. Also included are modern mathematical and theoretical physics methods, giving the student a broad knowledge of tools that can shed light on the sophisticated mechanisms brought forth by evolution in biological systems. The content covers many aspects that have been the focus of active research over the past twenty years, reflecting the authors'experience as leading researchers and teachers in this field.

This volume presents the contributions of the 6th International Conference on Advancements of Medicine and Health Care through Technology – MediTech 2018, held between 17 – 20 October 2018 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The papers of this Proceedings volume present new developments in :- Health Care Technology- Medical Devices, Measurement and Instrumentation- Medical Imaging, Image and Signal Processing- Modeling and Simulation- Molecular Bioengineering- Biomechanics

`In contrast to common practice, we have always tried to include as many discussions held at the meeting in our proceedings as possible, so as to enable readers to properly evaluate each paper presented, as well as to learn of future prospects in this field of research. Although the policy of including discussions occasions a long publication delay, we believe that it is worth repeating in our future publication, as we have met a number of young investigators fascinated by the discussions in our proceedings.... In the concluding remarks in this volume, Dr. Hugh E. Huxley, a principal architect of the sliding filament mechanism of muscle contraction, states that the molecular mechanism of myofilament sliding remains mysterious to all of us. We hope that this volume will stimulate muscle investigators to design and perform novel experiments to clarify the mysteries in muscle contraction.'Haruo Sugi and Gerald H. Pollack, excerpted from the Preface.

A major part of orthopedics is the treatment of musculoskeletal diseases caused by structural disorders and mechanical breakdown of living tissue. Therefore, biomechanical consideration of static structures and dynamic mechanisms is compulsory for both diagnosis and treatment of orthopedic diseases. Previous biomechanical studies have enabled great advances in orthopedic implant technology, such as artificial joint replacement and instrumentation for spinal fusion. Consequently the importance of biomechanics is increasing more and more in daily clinical practice and development. In addition, biomaterial research into mechanical properties and tissue reactions of implant materials is certainly an important area of related study. This book is comprised of 22 papers presented at the International Seminar on Biomechanics in Orthopedics and the 17th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Orthopedic Biomechanics, held in Nagoya in 1990. The volume contains full descriptions of both conventional and updated knowledge of the spine, ligaments, artificial joint replacement in the hip and knee, fracture treatment, and gait analysis, as well as biomaterials. I earnestly hope that this book will be of benefit to readers in daily clinical work and research. To close, I would like to thank profoundly the two coeditors, Prof. S.M. Perren and Mr. T. Hattori, and also a quiet supporter Mrs. J. Buchanan in Davos, for their cooperation in producing this book.

This volume presents the contributions of the third International Conference on Advancements of Medicine and Health Care through Technology (Meditech 2011), held in in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The papers of this Proceedings volume present new developments in - Health Care Technology, - Medical Devices, Measurement and Instrumentation, - Medical Imaging, Image and Signal Processing, - Modeling and Simulation, - Molecular Bioengineering, - Biomechanics.

Biomechanics covers a wide field such as organ mechanics, tissue mechanics, cell mechanics to molecular mechanics. At the 6th World Congress of Biomechanics WCB 2010 in Singapore, authors presented the largest experimental studies, technologies and equipment. Special emphasis was placed on state-of-the-art technology and medical applications. This volume presents the Proceedings of the 6th WCB 2010 which was hold in conjunction with 14th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering (ICBME) & 5th Asia Pacific Conference on Biomechanics (APBiomech). The peer reviewed scientific papers are arranged in the six themes Organ Mechanics, Tissue Mechanics, Cell Mechanics, Molecular Mechanics, Materials, Tools, Devices & Techniques, Special Topics.

Nonlinear dynamics has become an important field of research in recent years in many areas of the natural sciences. In particular, it has potential applications in biology and medicine; nonlinear data analysis has helped to detect the progress of cardiac disease, physiological disorders, for example episodes of epilepsy, and others. This book focuses on the current trends of research concerning the prediction of sudden cardiac death and the onset of epileptic seizures, using the nonlinear analysis based on ECG and EEG data. Topics covered include the analysis of cardiac models and neural models. The book is a collection of recent research papers by leading physicists, mathematicians, cardiologists and neurobiologists who are actively involved in using the concepts of nonlinear dynamics to explore the functional behaviours of heart and brain under normal and pathological conditions. This collection is intended for students in physics, mathematics and medical sciences, and researchers in interdisciplinary areas of physics and biology.

This book presents the rapidly developing field of artificial intelligence and machine learning and its application in biomedical imaging. As is known, starting from the diagnosis of fractures by using X-rays to understanding the complex structure and function of the brain, biomedical imaging has contributed immensely toward the development of precision diagnosis and treatment strategies for numerous diseases. While continuous evolution in imaging technologies have enabled the acquisition of images having resolution and contrast far better than ever, it significantly increased the volume of data associated with each image scan—making it increasingly difficult for experts to analyze and interpret. In this context, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools has become one of the most exciting frontlines of contemporary research in biomedical imaging due to their capability to extract minute traces of various disease signatures from large and complicated datasets and providing clear insight into the potential abnormalities with excellent accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. The hallmark of this book will be the contributions from international leaders on different AI-aided advanced biomedical imaging modalities and techniques. Included will be comprehensive description of several of the technology-driven spectacular advances made over the past few years that have allowed early detection and delineation of abnormalities with sub-pixel image segmentation and classification. Starting from the fundamentals of biomedical image processing, the book presents a streamlined and focused coverage of the core principles, theoretical and experimental approaches, and state-of-the-art applications of most of the currently used biomedical imaging techniques powered by AI.

This book presents cutting-edge research and developments in the broad field of medical, biological engineering and computing. This is the first volume of the joint proceedings of the Mediterranean Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing (MEDICON) and the International Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering (CMBEBIH), which were held together on September 14-16, 2023, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Contributions report on advances in biomedical signal processing and bioimaging, medical physics, and pharmaceutical engineering. Further, they cover applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning in healthcare.

Humans are electric beings. We are managed, monitored, and stimulated electrically. This textbook provides students and practitioners with a solid foundation and understanding of human electricity and the work currently being done to further develop electrical signals for medical purposes and related goals. The book introduces the fundamentals of how biological systems generate electrical signals, covering a wide range of biomedical engineering topics including bioelectricity, biomedical signals, neural engineering, and brain-computer interface. The book is presented in three sections: Part I explains how electrical signals and impulses manage the human body; Part II examines the kinds of electrical signals from the human body and how they are monitored, controlled, and used; Part III looks at clinical use of electrical stimulation toward the human body and how they are being developed for interventions in medicine. The book is also a valuable professional reference for practicing engineers and scientists. Explains humans as electric beings who are managed, monitored, and stimulated electrically;Deals with the electricity of major human organs;Covers a wide range of biomedical engineering topics

This book describes the application of signal and image processing technologies, artificial intelligence, and machine learning techniques to support Covid-19 diagnosis and treatment. The book focuses on two main applications: critical diagnosis requiring high precision and speed, and treatment of symptoms, including those affecting the cardiovascular and neurological systems.The areas discussed in this book range from signal processing, time series analysis, and image segmentation to detection and classification. Technical approaches include deep learning, transfer learning, transformers, AutoML, and other machine learning techniques that can be considered not only for Covid-19 issues but also for different medical applications, with slight adjustments to the problem under study.The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the entire world and changed how societies and individuals interact. Due to the high infection and mortality rates, and the multiple consequences of the virusinfection in the human body, the challenges were vast and enormous. These necessitated the integration of different disciplines to address the problems. As a global response, researchers across academia and industry made several developments to provide computational solutions to support epidemiologic, managerial, and health/medical decisions. To that end, this book provides state-of-the-art information on the most advanced solutions.

Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) continues to mature as a research field and is primed to make a swift transition to routine preclinical and clinical applications. This book will serve two main purposes: Advanced education in QUS by providing a complete and thorough review of all theoretical, physical, and engineering aspects of QUS.Review of recent development of QUS by lead contributors in the research field. This 2nd edition will focus on 6 modern research topics related to quantitative ultrasound of soft tissues: Spectral-based methods for tissue characterization, tissue typing, cancer detection, etc.Attenuation estimation for tissue characterization and improving spectral based methodsEnvelope statistics analysis as a means of quantifying and imaging tissue properties.Ultrasound computed tomography for preclinical and clinical imaging.Scanning acoustic microscopy for formingimages of mechanical properties of soft tissues with micron resolution.Phantoms for quantitative ultrasound.

This classroom-tested textbook is an innovative, comprehensive, and forward-looking introductory undergraduate physics course. While it clearly explains physical principles and equips the student with a full range of quantitative tools and methods, the material is firmly grounded in biological relevance and is brought to life with plenty of biological examples throughout.It is designed to be a self-contained text for a two-semester sequence of introductory physics for biology and premedical students, covering kinematics and Newton's laws, energy, probability, diffusion, rates of change, statistical mechanics, fluids, vibrations, waves, electromagnetism, and optics. Each chapter begins with learning goals, and concludes with a summary of core competencies, allowing for seamless incorporation into the classroom. In addition, each chapter is replete with a wide selection of creative and often surprising examples, activities, computational tasks, and exercises, many of which are inspired by current research topics, making cutting-edge biological physics accessible to the student.

This book describes a new strategy for rehabilitation from injury and/or disease using Crucial Event Therapy. Recent studies have shown that individuals can recuperate more rapidly from surgery and other invasive procedures intended to correct the negative effects of disease or injury through the use of life support systems that operate at the body's natural biofrequencies. The same observation has been clinically shown to reverse the degenerative effects of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Disease. Crucial Event Therapy describes medicine as the operational control of the functions of the human body treated as a network-of-networks, with 1/f-variable crucial events coding the dynamic states of health and disease through information flow within a network and information exchange between biomedical networks. A new way of thinking based on the statistics of Cortical Events is presented and the relevant literature is suitably referenced. This is anideal book for biophysicists and data scientists seeking to understand the connection of complexity measures for the study of consciousness with the clinical aspects of designing a rehabilitation strategy.

This Handbook serves as an authoritative reference book in the field of Neuroengineering. Neuroengineering is a very exciting field that is rapidly getting established as core subject matter for research and education. The Neuroengineering field has also produced an impressive array of industry products and clinical applications. It also serves as a reference book for graduate students, research scholars and teachers. Selected sections or a compendium of chapters may be used as “reference book” for a one or two semester graduate course in Biomedical Engineering. Some academicians will construct a “textbook” out of selected sections or chapters. The Handbook is also meant as a state-of-the-art volume for researchers. Due to its comprehensive coverage, researchers in one field covered by a certain section of the Handbook would find other sections valuable sources of cross-reference for information and fertilization of interdisciplinary ideas. Industry researchers as well as clinicians using neurotechnologies will find the Handbook a single source for foundation and state-of-the-art applications in the field of Neuroengineering. Regulatory agencies, entrepreneurs, investors and legal experts can use the Handbook as a reference for their professional work as well.​

The goal of this textbook is to equip readers with as structured knowledge of soft robotics as possible. Seeking to overcome the limitations of conventional robots by making them more flexible, gentle and adaptable, soft robotics has become one of the most active fields over the last decade. Soft robotics is also highly interdisciplinary, bringing together robotics, computer science, material science, biology, etc. After the introduction, the content is divided into three parts: Design of Soft Robots; Soft Materials; and Autonomous Soft Robots. Part I addresses soft mechanisms, biological mechanisms, and soft manipulation & locomotion. In Part II, the basics of polymer, biological materials, flexible & stretchable sensors, and soft actuators are discussed from a materials science standpoint. In turn, Part III focuses on modeling & control of continuum bodies, material intelligence, and information processing using soft body dynamics. In addition, the latest research resultsand cutting-edge research are highlighted throughout the book. Written by a team of researchers from highly diverse fields, the work offers a valuable textbook or technical guide for all students, engineers and researchers who are interested in soft robotics.

This two-volume book provides an enriching insight into the laser, covering different types of lasers, the basic science behind the technology, their role at the cutting-edge of current scientific research, and their wide-ranging applications. With just high school physics as a prerequisite and favoring qualitative yet scientifically sound explanations over high-level mathematics, this book is aimed at a broad spectrum of readers in physics, chemistry, engineering, medicine, and biology. Its engaging and lucid presentation is enhanced with plenty of illustrations, making the world of the laser accessible to undergraduate students in the sciences and any other inquisitive readers with high school physics under their belts. Furthermore, the text is often laced with anecdotes, picked from history, that are bound to pique the minds of the readers. It is ideal for self-study or as a complement to courses on optics and optoelectronics. This volume, Part 1 of 2, explains the fundamentals of optics, what a laser is, how it works, and what is unique about the light it emits, from fundamental quantum theory through population inversion and cavity to common laser types. It is followed by Part 2 which depicts the many advances in science enabled by the laser, including spectroscopy, nonlinear optics, optical cooling and trapping, and optical tweezers, among many others, and provides a glimpse into the ways that the laser affects our lives via its uses in medicine, manufacturing, the nuclear industry, energy, defence, communication, ranging, pollution monitoring, art conservation, fashion, beauty, and entertainment.

This contributed volume focuses on cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and explores the ways in which signaling mechanisms at the biochemical, molecular, and cellular levels in the blood vessels (vascular) and heart contribute to the underlying causes of development and progression of the CVDs. This volume covers unique topics such as oxidant signaling in vascular and heart diseases and health, cytoskeletal signaling in vascular health and disease, phospholipase signaling in CVDs, lipid signaling in vascular and myocardial health and diseases, and drug discovery in cellular signaling for cardiovascular diseases.This book assembles the most important discoveries made by leaders on the cellular signaling mechanisms operating behind the development and progression of life-threatening CVDs. It is an extremely useful resource for the investigators in the field of CVDs, and opens the discussion for further discovery of efficient management and effective treatment of the CVDs.

This contributed volume reviews the latest advances in all the new technologies currently developed for MagnetoEncephaloGraphy (MEG) recordings, as well as sensor technologies and integrated sensor arrays for on-scalp MEG. The book gives an account of the first MEG imaging studies and explores the new field of feasible, experimental paradigms of on-scalp MEG. This is an ideal book for engineers, researchers, and students in the neurosciences interested in MEG imaging.

The identification and interpretation of the signs of breast cancer in mammographic images from screening programs can be very difficult due to the subtle and diversified appearance of breast disease. This book presents new image processing and pattern recognition techniques for computer-aided detection and diagnosis of breast cancer in its various forms. The main goals are: (1) the identification of bilateral asymmetry as an early sign of breast disease which is not detectable by other existing approaches; and (2) the detection and classification of masses and regions of architectural distortion, as benign lesions or malignant tumors, in a unified framework that does not require accurate extraction of the contours of the lesions. The innovative aspects of the work include the design and validation of landmarking algorithms, automatic Tabár masking procedures, and various feature descriptors for quantification of similarity and for contour independent classification of mammographic lesions. Characterization of breast tissue patterns is achieved by means of multidirectional Gabor filters. For the classification tasks, pattern recognition strategies, including Fisher linear discriminant analysis, Bayesian classifiers, support vector machines, and neural networks are applied using automatic selection of features and cross-validation techniques. Computer-aided detection of bilateral asymmetry resulted in accuracy up to 0.94, with sensitivity and specificity of 1 and 0.88, respectively. Computer-aided diagnosis of automatically detected lesions provided sensitivity of detection of malignant tumors in the range of [0.70, 0.81] at a range of falsely detected tumors of [0.82, 3.47] per image. The techniques presented in this work are effective in detecting and characterizing various mammographic signs of breast disease.

This book highlights the advancements in different fields of clinical electrophysiology and gives the reader a good background of the established practices. To tackle such a wide topic, the book focuses on two main aspects: ablation and pacing, discussing the novel energy sources and approaches to rhythm restoration and control; devices and signal processing, highlighting the new available technologies and numerical approaches aiding practice and home medicine. It also presents the reader with selected strategies that could be a paradigm shifts for the field: in situ cell reprogramming, exploiting the newly founded achievements in epigenetic modification of somatic cells; artificial intelligence; cardiac digital twinning, which aims to collect the information from imaging, mechanics and electrophysiology and condense it into a patient-specific model for personalized treatment.

This interdisciplinary book covers the fundamentals of optical whispering gallery mode (WGM) microcavities, light–matter interaction, and biomolecular structure with a focus on applications in biosensing. Novel biosensors based on the hybridization of WGM microcavities and localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) in metal nanoparticles have emerged as the most sensitive microsystem biodetection technology that boasts single molecule detection capability without the need for amplification and labeling of the analyte. The book provides an ample survey of the physical mechanisms of WGMs and LSPRs for detecting affinity, concentration, size, shape and orientation of biomarkers, while informing the reader about different classes of biomolecules, their optical properties and their importance in label-free clinical diagnostics.This expanded and updated second edition features a new chapter that introduces the reader to advanced in vivo biosensing techniques using WGM microcavities, looking at photothermal sensing, methods for trapping neutral atoms around WGM microcavities, and practical aspects of optoplasmonic sensing. The second Edition now provides a comprehensive introduction to the use of WGM microcavities in physical sensing which includes measurements with frequency combs, macro and micro (one atom) lasers, gyroscopes, optomechanical and parity-time-symmetric sensor devices.Chapter-end problems round out this comprehensive and fundamental textbook, inspiring a host of up-and-coming physicists, bioengineers, and medical professionals to make their own breakthroughs in this blossoming new field. This textbook can be used for both introductory and advanced courses about the modern optics of optical microcavities.

This book describes insight mechanisms for designing molecular probes and methods that these agents can be used for medical diagnosis in preclinical animal models via optical, MRI and PET imaging. The book has a wealth of schemes of synthesis and methods deduced from pioneers in the field, making it possible to immerse into real-world molecular imaging. Written for graduate student training and practitioners, this book will serve as a teaching material and/or reference for anyone interested in exploring the power of chemical synthesis of imaging agents.

This book presents a novel continuum finite deformation framework addressing the complex interactions among electrostatics, species transport, and mechanics in solid networks immersed in a fluid phase of solvent and ions. Grounded on cutting-edge multiphysics theories for soft active materials, the proposed model is primarily applied to ionic polymer metal composites (IPMCs). First, the influence of shear deformation on the IPMC response is analyzed through semi-analytical solutions obtained via the method of matched asymptotic expansions. Second, the novel electrochemo-poromechanical theory is used to predict the curvature relaxation and electric discharge that are observed in IPMC actuation and sensing, respectively, under a sustained stimulus. This newly formulated theory is, in turn, applied to biological cell clusters. Here, important mechanical considerations are integrated into classical bioelectrical models, thus offering novel insights into the interplay of mechanical and electrical signaling in the coordination of developmental processes.

Intended as an introduction to the field of biomedical engineering, this book covers the topics of biomechanics (Part I) and bioelectricity (Part II). Each chapter emphasizes a fundamental principle or law, such as Darcy's Law, Poiseuille's Law, Hooke's Law, Starling's Law, levers, and work in the area of fluid, solid, and cardiovascular biomechanics. In addition, electrical laws and analysis tools are introduced, including Ohm's Law, Kirchhoff's Laws, Coulomb's Law, capacitors, and the fluid/electrical analogy. Culminating the electrical portion are chapters covering Nernst and membrane potentials and Fourier transforms. Examples are solved throughout the book and problems with answers are given at the end of each chapter. A semester-long Major Project that models the human systemic cardiovascular system, utilizing both a Matlab numerical simulation and an electrical analog circuit, ties many of the book's concepts together. Table of Contents: Ohm's Law: Current, Voltage and Resistance / Kirchhoff's Voltage and Current Laws: Circuit Analysis / Operational Amplifiers / Coulomb's Law, Capacitors and the Fluid/Electrical Analogy / Series and Parallel Combinations / Thevenin Equivalent Circuits / Nernst Potential: Cell Membrane Equivalent Circuit / Fourier Transforms: Alternating Currents (AC)

Intended as an introduction to the field of biomedical engineering, this book covers the topics of biomechanics (Part I) and bioelectricity (Part II). Each chapter emphasizes a fundamental principle or law, such as Darcy's Law, Poiseuille's Law, Hooke's Law, Starling's Law, levers, and work in the area of fluid, solid, and cardiovascular biomechanics. In addition, electrical laws and analysis tools are introduced, including Ohm's Law, Kirchhoff's Laws, Coulomb's Law, capacitors and the fluid/electrical analogy. Culminating the electrical portion are chapters covering Nernst and membrane potentials and Fourier transforms. Examples are solved throughout the book and problems with answers are given at the end of each chapter. A semester-long Major Project that models the human systemic cardiovascular system, utilizing both a Matlab numerical simulation and an electrical analog circuit, ties many of the book's concepts together. Table of Contents: Basic Concepts / Darcy's Law / Poiseuille's Law: Pressure-Driven Flow Through Tubes / Hooke's Law: Elasticity of Tissues and Compliant Vessels / Starling's Law of the Heart, Windkessel Elements and Volume / Euler's Method and First-Order Time Constants / Muscle, Leverage, Work, Energy and Power

The book presents recent advances in signal processing techniques for modeling, analysis, and understanding of the heart's electrical activity during atrial fibrillation. This arrhythmia is the most commonly encountered in clinical practice and its complex and metamorphic nature represents a challenging problem for clinicians, engineers, and scientists. Research on atrial fibrillation has stimulated the development of a wide range of signal processing tools to better understand the mechanisms ruling its initiation, maintenance, and termination. This book provides undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers and practicing engineers, with an overview of techniques, including time domain techniques for atrial wave extraction, time-frequency analysis for exploring wave dynamics, and nonlinear techniques to characterize the ventricular response and the organization of atrial activity. The book includes an introductory chapter about atrial fibrillation and its mechanisms, treatment, and management. The successive chapters are dedicated to the analysis of atrial signals recorded on the body surface and to the quantification of ventricular response. The rest of the book explores techniques to characterize endo- and epicardial recordings and to model atrial conduction. Under the appearance of being a monothematic book on atrial fibrillation, the reader will not only recognize common problems of biomedical signal processing but also discover that analysis of atrial fibrillation is a unique challenge for developing and testing novel signal processing tools. Table of Contents: Part I / Introduction to Atrial Fibrillation: From Mechanisms to Treatment / Time Domain Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation / Atrial Activity Extraction from the ECG / Time-Frequency Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation

The book presents recent advances in signal processing techniques for modeling, analysis, and understanding of the heart's electrical activity during atrial fibrillation. This arrhythmia is the most commonly encountered in clinical practice and its complex and metamorphic nature represents a challenging problem for clinicians, engineers, and scientists. Research on atrial fibrillation has stimulated the development of a wide range of signal processing tools to better understand the mechanisms ruling its initiation, maintenance, and termination. This book provides undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers and practicing engineers, with an overview of techniques, including time domain techniques for atrial wave extraction, time-frequency analysis for exploring wave dynamics, and nonlinear techniques to characterize the ventricular response and the organization of atrial activity. The book includes an introductory chapter about atrial fibrillation and its mechanisms, treatment, and management. The successive chapters are dedicated to the analysis of atrial signals recorded on the body surface and to the quantification of ventricular response. The rest of the book explores techniques to characterize endo- and epicardial recordings and to model atrial conduction. Under the appearance of being a monothematic book on atrial fibrillation, the reader will not only recognize common problems of biomedical signal processing but also discover that analysis of atrial fibrillation is a unique challenge for developing and testing novel signal processing tools. Table of Contents: Analysis of Ventricular Response During Atrial Fibrillation / Organization Measures of Atrial Activity During Fibrillation / Modeling Atrial Fibrillation: From Myocardial Cells to ECG / Algorithms for Atrial Tachyarrythmia Detection for Long-Term Monitoring with Implantable Devices

Heredity performs literal communication of immensely long genomes through immensely long time intervals. Genomes nevertheless incur sporadic errors referred to as mutations which have significant and often dramatic effects, after a time interval as short as a human life. How can faithfulness at a very large timescale and unfaithfulness at a very short one be conciliated? The engineering problem of literal communication has been completely solved during the second half of the XX-th century. Originating in 1948 from Claude Shannon's seminal work, information theory provided means to measure information quantities and proved that communication is possible through an unreliable channel (by means left unspecified) up to a sharp limit referred to as its capacity, beyond which communication becomes impossible. The quest for engineering means of reliable communication, named error-correcting codes, did not succeed in closely approaching capacity until 1993 when Claude Berrou and Alain Glavieux invented turbocodes. By now, the electronic devices which invaded our daily lives (e.g., CD, DVD, mobile phone, digital television) could not work without highly efficient error-correcting codes. Reliable communication through unreliable channels up to the limit of what is theoretically possible has become a practical reality: an outstanding achievement, however little publicized. As an engineering problem that nature solved aeons ago, heredity is relevant to information theory. The capacity of DNA is easily shown to vanish exponentially fast, which entails that error-correcting codes must be used to regenerate genomes so as to faithfully transmit the hereditary message. Moreover, assuming that such codes exist explains basic and conspicuous features of the living world, e.g., the existence of discrete species and their hierarchical taxonomy, the necessity of successive generations and even the trend of evolution towards increasingly complex beings. Providing geneticists with an introduction to information theory and error-correcting codes as necessary tools of hereditary communication is the primary goal of this book. Some biological consequences of their use are also discussed, and guesses about hypothesized genomic codes are presented. Another goal is prompting communication engineers to get interested in genetics and biology, thereby broadening their horizon far beyond the technological field, and learning from the most outstanding engineer: Nature. Table of Contents: Foreword / Introduction / A Brief Overview of Molecular Genetics / An Overview of Information Theory / More on Molecular Genetics / More on Information Theory / An Outline of Error-Correcting Codes / DNA is an Ephemeral Memory / A Toy Living World / Subsidiary Hypothesis, Nested System / Soft Codes / Biological Reality Conforms to the Hypotheses / Identification of Genomic Codes / Conclusion and Perspectives

Lung sounds auscultation is often the first noninvasive resource for detection and discrimination of respiratory pathologies available to the physician through the use of the stethoscope. Hearing interpretation, though, was the only means of appreciation of the lung sounds diagnostic information for many decades. Nevertheless, in recent years, computerized auscultation combined with signal processing techniques has boosted the diagnostic capabilities of lung sounds. The latter were traditionally analyzed and characterized by morphological changes in the time domain using statistical measures, by spectral properties in the frequency domain using simple spectral analysis, or by nonstationary properties in a joint time–frequency domain using short-time Fourier transform. Advanced signal processing techniques, however, have emerged in the last decade, broadening the perspective in lung sounds analysis. The scope of this book is to present up-to-date signal processing techniques that have been applied to the area of lung sound analysis. It starts with a description of the nature of lung sounds and continues with the introduction of new domains in their representation, new denoising techniques, and concludes with some reflective implications, both from engineers'and physicians'perspective. Issues of nonstationarity, nonlinearity, non-Gaussianity, modeling, and classification of lung sounds are addressed with new methodologies, revealing a more realistic approach to their pragmatic nature. Advanced denoising techniques that effectively circumvent the noise presence (e.g., heart sound interference, background noise) in lung sound recordings are described, providing the physician with high-quality auscultative data. The book offers useful information both to engineers and physicians interested in bioacoustics, clearly demonstrating the current trends in lung sound analysis. Table of Contents: The Nature of Lung Sound Signals / New Domains in LS Representation / Denoising Techniques / Reflective Implications

Dielectrophoresis microfluidic chips have been widely used in various biological applications due to their advantages of convenient operation, high throughput, and low cost. However, most of the DEP microfluidic chips are based on 2D planar electrodes which have some limitations, such as electric field attenuation, small effective working regions, and weak DEP forces. In order to overcome the limitations of 2D planar electrodes, two kinds of thick-electrode DEP chips were designed to realize manipulation and multi-parameter measurement of single cells. Based on the multi-electrode structure of thick-electrode DEP, a single-cell 3D electro-rotation chip of'Armillary Sphere'was designed. The chip uses four thick electrodes and a bottom planar electrode to form an electric field chamber, which can control 3D rotation of single cells under different electric signal configurations. Electrical property measurement and 3D image reconstruction of single cells are achieved based on single-cell 3D rotation. This work overcomes the limitations of 2D planar electrodes and effectively solves the problem of unstable spatial position of single-cell samples, and provides a new platform for single-cell analysis. Based on multi-electrode structure of thick-electrode DEP, a microfluidic chip with optoelectronic integration was presented. A dual-fiber optical stretcher embedded in thick electrodes can trap and stretch a single cell while the thick electrodes are used for single-cell rotation. Stretching and rotation manipulation gives the chip the ability to simultaneously measure mechanical and electrical properties of single cells, providing a versatile platform for single-cell analysis, further extending the application of thick-electrode DEP in biological manipulation and analysis.

In the last ten years many different brain imaging devices have conveyed a lot of information about the brain functioning in different experimental conditions. In every case, the biomedical engineers, together with mathematicians, physicists and physicians are called to elaborate the signals related to the brain activity in order to extract meaningful and robust information to correlate with the external behavior of the subjects. In such attempt, different signal processing tools used in telecommunications and other field of engineering or even social sciences have been adapted and re-used in the neuroscience field. The present book would like to offer a short presentation of several methods for the estimation of the cortical connectivity of the human brain. The methods here presented are relatively simply to implement, robust and can return valuable information about the causality of the activation of the different cortical areas in humans using non invasive electroencephalographic recordings. The knowledge of such signal processing tools will enrich the arsenal of the computational methods that a engineer or a mathematician could apply in the processing of brain signals. Table of Contents: Introduction / Estimation of the Effective Connectivity from Stationary Data by Structural Equation Modeling / Estimation of the Functional Connectivity from Stationary Data by Multivariate Autoregressive Methods / Estimation of Cortical Activity by the use of Realistic Head Modeling / Application: Estimation of Connectivity from Movement-Related Potentials / Application to High-Resolution EEG Recordings in a Cognitive Task (Stroop Test) / Application to Data Related to the Intention of Limb Movements in Normal Subjects and in a Spinal Cord Injured Patient / The Instantaneous Estimation of the Time-Varying Cortical Connectivity by Adaptive Multivariate Estimators / Time-Varying Connectivity from Event-Related Potentials

The biomedical engineering senior capstone design course is probably the most important course taken by undergraduate biomedical engineering students. It provides them with the opportunity to apply what they have learned in previous years, develop their communication, teamwork, project management, and design skills, and learn about the product development process. It prepares students for professional practice and serves as a preview of what it will be like to work as a biomedical engineer. The capstone design experience can change the way engineering students think about technology, themselves, society, and the world around them. It can make them aware of their potential to make a positive contribution to healthcare throughout the world and generate excitement for, and pride in, the engineering profession. Ideas for how to organize, structure, and manage a senior capstone design course for biomedical and other engineering students are presented here. These ideas will be helpful to faculty who are creating a new design course, expanding a current design program, or just looking for some ideas for improving an existing course. The better we can make these courses, the more'industry ready'our students will be, and the better prepared they will be for meaningful, successful careers in biomedical engineering. This book is the second part of a series covering Capstone Design Courses for biomedical engineers. Part I is available online here and in print (ISBN 9781598292923) and covers the following topics: Purpose, Goals, and Benefits; Designing a Course to Meet Student Needs; Enhancing the Capstone Design Courses; Meeting the Changing Needs of Future Engineers. Table of Contents: The Myth of the'Industry-Ready'Engineer / Recent Trends and the Current State of Capstone Design / Preparing Students for Capstone Design / Helping Students Recognize the Value of Capstone Design Courses / Developing Teamwork Skills / Incorporating Design Controls / Learning to Identify Problems, Unmet Needs, and New Product Opportunities / Design Verification and Validation / Liability Issues with Assistive Technology Projects / Standards in Capstone Design Courses and the Engineering Curriculum / Design Transfer and Design for Manufacturability / Learning from other Engineering Disciplines: Capstone Design Conferences / Maintaining a Relevant, Up-to-Date Capstone Design Course / Active Learning in Capstone Design Courses / Showcasing Student Projects: National Student Design Competitions / Managing Student Expectations of the'Real World'/ Career Management and Professional Development / Conclusion

Intended as an introduction to the field of biomedical engineering, this book covers the topics of biomechanics (Part I) and bioelectricity (Part II). Each chapter emphasizes a fundamental principle or law, such as Darcy's Law, Poiseuille's Law, Hooke's Law, Starling's Law, levers, and work in the area of fluid, solid, and cardiovascular biomechanics. In addition, electrical laws and analysis tools are introduced, including Ohm's Law, Kirchhoff's Laws, Coulomb's Law, capacitors and the fluid/electrical analogy. Culminating the electrical portion are chapters covering Nernst and membrane potentials and Fourier transforms. Examples are solved throughout the book and problems with answers are given at the end of each chapter. A semester-long Major Project that models the human systemic cardiovascular system, utilizing both a Matlab numerical simulation and an electrical analog circuit, ties many of the book's concepts together. Table of Contents: Basic Concepts / Darcy's Law / Poiseuille's Law: Pressure-Driven Flow Through Tubes / Hooke's Law: Elasticity of Tissues and Compliant Vessels / Starling's Law of the Heart, Windkessel Elements and Volume / Euler's Method and First-Order Time Constants / Muscle, Leverage, Work, Energy and Power

This short book provides basic information about bioinstrumentation and electric circuit theory. Many biomedical instruments use a transducer or sensor to convert a signal created by the body into an electric signal. Our goal here is to develop expertise in electric circuit theory applied to bioinstrumentation. We begin with a description of variables used in circuit theory, charge, current, voltage, power and energy. Next, Kirchhoff's current and voltage laws are introduced, followed by resistance, simplifications of resistive circuits and voltage and current calculations. Circuit analysis techniques are then presented, followed by inductance and capacitance, and solutions of circuits using the differential equation method. Finally, the operational amplifier and time varying signals are introduced. This lecture is written for a student or researcher or engineer who has completed the first two years of an engineering program (i.e., 3 semesters of calculus and differential equations). A considerable effort has been made to develop the theory in a logical manner—developing special mathematical skills as needed. At the end of the short book is a wide selection of problems, ranging from simple to complex.

The book presents recent advances in signal processing techniques for modeling, analysis, and understanding of the heart's electrical activity during atrial fibrillation. This arrhythmia is the most commonly encountered in clinical practice and its complex and metamorphic nature represents a challenging problem for clinicians, engineers, and scientists. Research on atrial fibrillation has stimulated the development of a wide range of signal processing tools to better understand the mechanisms ruling its initiation, maintenance, and termination. This book provides undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers and practicing engineers, with an overview of techniques, including time domain techniques for atrial wave extraction, time-frequency analysis for exploring wave dynamics, and nonlinear techniques to characterize the ventricular response and the organization of atrial activity. The book includes an introductory chapter about atrial fibrillation and its mechanisms, treatment, and management. The successive chapters are dedicated to the analysis of atrial signals recorded on the body surface and to the quantification of ventricular response. The rest of the book explores techniques to characterize endo- and epicardial recordings and to model atrial conduction. Under the appearance of being a monothematic book on atrial fibrillation, the reader will not only recognize common problems of biomedical signal processing but also discover that analysis of atrial fibrillation is a unique challenge for developing and testing novel signal processing tools. Table of Contents: Part I / Introduction to Atrial Fibrillation: From Mechanisms to Treatment / Time Domain Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation / Atrial Activity Extraction from the ECG / Time-Frequency Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation

There are five different types of eye movements: saccades, smooth pursuit, vestibular ocular eye movements, optokinetic eye movements, and vergence eye movements. The purpose of this book series is focused primarily on mathematical models of the horizontal saccadic eye movement system and the smooth pursuit system, rather than on how visual information is processed. A saccade is a fast eye movement used to acquire a target by placing the image of the target on the fovea. Smooth pursuit is a slow eye movement used to track a target as it moves by keeping the target on the fovea. The vestibular ocular movement is used to keep the eyes on a target during brief head movements. The optokinetic eye movement is a combination of saccadic and slow eye movements that keeps a full-field image stable on the retina during sustained head rotation. Each of these movements is a conjugate eye movement, that is, movements of both eyes together driven by a common neural source. A vergence movement is a non-conjugate eye movement allowing the eyes to track targets as they come closer or farther away. In Part 1, early models of saccades and smooth pursuit are presented. A number of oculomotor plant models are described therein beginning with the Westheimer model published in 1954, and up through our 1995 model involving a 4th-order oculomotor plant model. In Part 2, a 2009 version of a state-of-the-art model is presented for horizontal saccades that is 3rd-order and linear, and controlled by a physiologically based time-optimal neural network. In this book, a multiscale model of the saccade system is presented, focusing on the neural network. Chapter 1 summarizes a whole muscle model of the oculomotor plant based on the 2009 3rd-order and linear, and controlled by a physiologically based time-optimal neural network. Chapter 2 presents a neural network model of biophysical neurons in the midbrain for controlling oculomotor muscles during horizontal human saccades. To investigate horizontal saccade dynamics, a neural circuitry, including omnipause neuron, premotor excitatory and inhibitory burst neurons, long lead burst neuron, tonic neuron, interneuron, abducens nucleus, and oculomotor nucleus, is developed. A generic neuron model serves as the basis to match the characteristics of each type of neuron in the neural network. We wish to express our thanks to William Pruehsner for drawing many of the illustrations in this book. Table of Contents: Acknowledgments / 2009 Linear Homeomorphic Saccadic Eye Movement Model / A Neuron-Based Time-Optimal Controller of Horizontal Saccadic Eye Movements and Glissades / References / Authors'Biographies

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is the process of retrieval of images from a database that are similar to a query image, using measures derived from the images themselves, rather than relying on accompanying text or annotation. To achieve CBIR, the contents of the images need to be characterized by quantitative features; the features of the query image are compared with the features of each image in the database and images having high similarity with respect to the query image are retrieved and displayed. CBIR of medical images is a useful tool and could provide radiologists with assistance in the form of a display of relevant past cases. One of the challenging aspects of CBIR is to extract features from the images to represent their visual, diagnostic, or application-specific information content. In this book, methods are presented for preprocessing, segmentation, landmarking, feature extraction, and indexing of mammograms for CBIR. The preprocessing steps include anisotropic diffusion and the Wiener filter to remove noise and perform image enhancement. Techniques are described for segmentation of the breast and fibroglandular disk, including maximum entropy, a moment-preserving method, and Otsu's method. Image processing techniques are described for automatic detection of the nipple and the edge of the pectoral muscle via analysis in the Radon domain. By using the nipple and the pectoral muscle as landmarks, mammograms are divided into their internal, external, upper, and lower parts for further analysis. Methods are presented for feature extraction using texture analysis, shape analysis, granulometric analysis, moments, and statistical measures. The CBIR system presented provides options for retrieval using the Kohonen self-organizing map and the k-nearest-neighbor method. Methods are described for inclusion of expert knowledge to reduce the semantic gap in CBIR, including the query point movement method for relevance feedback (RFb). Analysis of performance is described in terms of precision, recall, and relevance-weighted precision of retrieval. Results of application to a clinical database of mammograms are presented, including the input of expert radiologists into the CBIR and RFb processes. Models are presented for integration of CBIR and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) with a picture archival and communication system (PACS) for efficient workflow in a hospital. Table of Contents: Introduction to Content-based Image Retrieval / Mammography and CAD of Breast Cancer / Segmentation and Landmarking of Mammograms / Feature Extraction and Indexing of Mammograms / Content-based Retrieval of Mammograms / Integration of CBIR and CAD into Radiological Workflow

In addition to being essential for safe and effective patient care, medical equipment also has significant impact on the income and, thus, vitality of healthcare organizations. For this reason, its maintenance and management requires careful supervision by healthcare administrators, many of whom may not have the technical background to understand all of the relevant factors. This book presents the basic elements of medical equipment maintenance and management required of healthcare leaders responsible for managing or overseeing this function. It will enable these individuals to understand their professional responsibilities, as well as what they should expect from their supervised staff and how to measure and benchmark staff performance against equivalent performance levels at similar organizations. The book opens with a foundational summary of the laws, regulations, codes, and standards that are applicable to the maintenance and management of medical equipment in healthcare organizations. Next, the core functions of the team responsible for maintenance and management are described in sufficient detail for managers and overseers. Then the methods and measures for determining the effectiveness and efficiency of equipment maintenance and management are presented to allow performance management and benchmarking comparisons. The challenges and opportunities of managing healthcare organizations of different sizes, acuity levels, and geographical locations are discussed. Extensive bibliographic sources and material for further study are provided to assist students and healthcare leaders interested in acquiring more detailed knowledge. Table of Contents: Introduction / Regulatory Framework / Core Functions of Medical Equipment Maintenance and Management / CE Department Management / Performance Management / Discussion and Conclusions

Fractal analysis is useful in digital image processing for the characterization of shape roughness and gray-scale texture or complexity. Breast masses present shape and gray-scale characteristics in mammograms that vary between benign masses and malignant tumors. This book demonstrates the use of fractal analysis to classify breast masses as benign masses or malignant tumors based on the irregularity exhibited in their contours and the gray-scale variability exhibited in their mammographic images. A few different approaches are described to estimate the fractal dimension (FD) of the contour of a mass, including the ruler method, box-counting method, and the power spectral analysis (PSA) method. Procedures are also described for the estimation of the FD of the gray-scale image of a mass using the blanket method and the PSA method. To facilitate comparative analysis of FD as a feature for pattern classification of breast masses, several other shape features and texture measures are described in the book. The shape features described include compactness, spiculation index, fractional concavity, and Fourier factor. The texture measures described are statistical measures derived from the gray-level cooccurrence matrix of the given image. Texture measures reveal properties about the spatial distribution of the gray levels in the given image; therefore, the performance of texture measures may be dependent on the resolution of the image. For this reason, an analysis of the effect of spatial resolution or pixel size on texture measures in the classification of breast masses is presented in the book. The results demonstrated in the book indicate that fractal analysis is more suitable for characterization of the shape than the gray-level variations of breast masses, with area under the receiver operating characteristics of up to 0.93 with a dataset of 111 mammographic images of masses. The methods and results presented in the book are useful for computer-aided diagnosis of breast cancer. Table of Contents: Computer-Aided Diagnosis of Breast Cancer / Detection and Analysis of\newline Breast Masses / Datasets of Images of Breast Masses / Methods for Fractal Analysis / Pattern Classification / Results of Classification of Breast Masses / Concluding Remarks

The biomedical engineering senior capstone design course is probably the most important course taken by undergraduate biomedical engineering students. It provides them with the opportunity to apply what they have learned in previous years; develop their communication (written, oral, and graphical), interpersonal (teamwork, conflict management, and negotiation), project management, and design skills; and learn about the product development process. It also provides students with an understanding of the economic, financial, legal, and regulatory aspects of the design, development, and commercialization of medical technology. The capstone design experience can change the way engineering students think about technology, society, themselves, and the world around them. It gives them a short preview of what it will be like to work as an engineer. It can make them aware of their potential to make a positive contribution to health care throughout the world and generate excitement for and pride in the engineering profession. Working on teams helps students develop an appreciation for the many ways team members, with different educational, political, ethnic, social, cultural, and religious backgrounds, look at problems. They learn to value diversity and become more willing to listen to different opinions and perspectives. Finally, they learn to value the contributions of nontechnical members of multidisciplinary project teams. Ideas for how to organize, structure, and manage a senior capstone design course for biomedical and other engineering students are presented here. These ideas will be helpful to faculty who are creating a new design course, expanding a current design program to more than the senior year, or just looking for some ideas for improving an existing course. Contents: I. Purpose, Goals, and Benefits / Why Our Students Need a Senior Capstone Design Course / Desired Learning Outcomes / Changing Student Attitudes, Perceptions, and Awarenesss / Senior Capstone Design Courses and Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Outcomes / II. Designing a Course to Meet Student Needs / Course Management and Required Deliverables / Projects and Project Teams / Lecture Topics / Intellectual Property Confidentiality Issues in Design Projects / III. Enhancing the Capstone Design Experience / Industry Involvement in Capstone Design Courses / Developing Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy / Providing Students with a Clinical Perspective / Service Learning Opportunities / Collaboration with Industrial Design Students / National Student Design Competitions / Organizational Support for Senior Capstone Design Courses / IV. Meeting the Changing Needs of Future Engineers / Capstone Design Courses and the Engineer of 2020

This is the first in a series of short books on probability theory and random processes for biomedical engineers. This text is written as an introduction to probability theory. The goal was to prepare students, engineers and scientists at all levels of background and experience for the application of this theory to a wide variety of problems—as well as pursue these topics at a more advanced level. The approach is to present a unified treatment of the subject. There are only a few key concepts involved in the basic theory of probability theory. These key concepts are all presented in the first chapter. The second chapter introduces the topic of random variables. Later chapters simply expand upon these key ideas and extend the range of application. A considerable effort has been made to develop the theory in a logical manner—developing special mathematical skills as needed. The mathematical background required of the reader is basic knowledge of differential calculus. Every effort has been made to be consistent with commonly used notation and terminology—both within the engineering community as well as the probability and statistics literature. Biomedical engineering examples are introduced throughout the text and a large number of self-study problems are available for the reader.

Technology is essential to the delivery of health care but it is still only a tool that needs to be deployed wisely to ensure beneficial outcomes at reasonable costs. Among various categories of health technology, medical equipment has the unique distinction of requiring both high initial investments and costly maintenance during its entire useful life. This characteristic does not, however, imply that medical equipment is more costly than other categories, provided that it is managed properly. The foundation of a sound technology management process is the planning and acquisition of equipment, collectively called technology incorporation. This lecture presents a rational, strategic process for technology incorporation based on experience, some successful and many unsuccessful, accumulated in industrialized and developing countries over the last three decades. The planning step is focused on establishing a Technology Incorporation Plan (TIP) using data collected from an audit of existing technology, evaluating needs, impacts, costs, and benefits, and consolidating the information collected for decision making. The acquisition step implements TIP by selecting equipment based on technical, regulatory, financial, and supplier considerations, and procuring it using one of the multiple forms of purchasing or agreements with suppliers. This incorporation process is generic enough to be used, with suitable adaptations, for a wide variety of health organizations with different sizes and acuity levels, ranging from health clinics to community hospitals to major teaching hospitals and even to entire health systems. Such a broadly applicable process is possible because it is based on a conceptual framework composed of in-depth analysis of the basic principles that govern each stage of technology lifecycle. Using this incorporation process, successful TIPs have been created and implemented, thereby contributing to the improvement of healthcare services and limiting the associated expenses. Table of Contents: Introduction / Conceptual Framework / The Incorporation Process / Discussion / Conclusions

There are five different types of eye movements: saccades, smooth pursuit, vestibular ocular eye movements, optokinetic eye movements, and vergence eye movements. The purpose of this book is focused primarily on mathematical models of the horizontal saccadic eye movement system and the smooth pursuit system, rather than on how visual information is processed. A saccade is a fast eye movement used to acquire a target by placing the image of the target on the fovea. Smooth pursuit is a slow eye movement used to track a target as it moves by keeping the target on the fovea. The vestibular ocular movement is used to keep the eyes on a target during brief head movements. The optokinetic eye movement is a combination of saccadic and slow eye movements that keeps a full-field image stable on the retina during sustained head rotation. Each of these movements is a conjugate eye movement, that is, movements of both eyes together driven by a common neural source. A vergence movement is a non-conjugate eye movement allowing the eyes to track targets as they come closer or farther away. In this book, a 2009 version of a state-of-the-art model is presented for horizontal saccades that is 3rd-order and linear, and controlled by a physiologically based time-optimal neural network. The oculomotor plant and saccade generator are the basic elements of the saccadic system. The control of saccades is initiated by the superior colliculus and terminated by the cerebellar fastigial nucleus, and involves a complex neural circuit in the mid brain. This book is the second part of a book series on models of horizontal eye movements. Table of Contents: 2009 Linear Homeomorphic Saccadic Eye Movement Model and Post-Saccade Behavior: Dynamic and Glissadic Overshoot / Neural Network for the Saccade Controller

E-health is closely related with networks and telecommunications when dealing with applications of collecting or transferring medical data from distant locations for performing remote medical collaborations and diagnosis. In this book we provide an overview of the fields of image and signal processing for networked and distributed e-health applications and their supporting technologies. The book is structured in 10 chapters, starting the discussion from the lower end, that of acquisition and processing of biosignals and medical images and ending in complex virtual reality systems and techniques providing more intuitive interaction in a networked medical environment. The book also discusses networked clinical decision support systems and corresponding medical standards, WWW-based applications, medical collaborative platforms, wireless networking, and the concepts of ambient intelligence and pervasive computing in electronic healthcare systems.