Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• ENG BE 511: Biomedical Instrumentation
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: ENGBE403 and either BE492 or BE493 - Physiological signals, origin of biopotentials (ECG, EMG, EEG), biomedical transducers and electrodes. Biomedical signal detection, amplifications and filtering. Analog front-ends of biomedical instruments. Electrical safety in medical environment. Laboratory experiments supplement lectures.
• ENG BE 515: Introduction to Medical Imaging
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPY212 & ENGBE403) - Methods for generating images of the interior of a body using X-rays, ultrasound, radiowaves, or radioactivity. Image formation and display. Projection radiography. Radiation detectors. Conventional and computerized tomography. Nuclear imaging. Automating diagnosis and non-invasive testing. Radiation safety.
• ENG BE 521: Continuum Mechanics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGME303 OR ENGBE436) and ENGME304 or ENGEK424; and ENGME305 or ENGBE420 - The main goal of this course is to present a unified, mathematically rigorous approach to two classical branches of mechanics: the mechanics of fluids and the mechanics of solids. Topics will include kinematics, stress analysis, balance laws (mass, momentum, and energy), the entropy inequality, and constitutive equations in the framework of Cartesian vectors and tensors. Emphasis will be placed on mechanical principles that apply to all materials by using the unifying mathematical framework of Cartesian vectors and tensors. Illustrative examples from biology and physiology will be used to describe basic concepts in continuum mechanics. The course will end at the point from which specialized courses devoted to problems in fluid mechanics (e.g. biotransport) and solid mechanics (e.g. cellular biomechanics) could logically proceed. Same as ENG ME 521; students may not receive credit for both.
• ENG BE 526: Fundamentals of Biomaterials
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGEK301 & ENGEK424 & CASCH101 & CASCH102 & ENGBE209) - Provides the chemistry and engineering skills needed to solve challenges in the biomaterials and tissue engineering area, concentrating on the fundamental principles in biomedical engineering, material science, and chemistry. Covers the structure and properties of hard materials (ceramics and metals) and soft materials (polymers, colloids, and hydrogels). Same as ENG BE 726, ENG ME 726, ENG MS 726. Student may not receive credit for both. Meets with ENG BE 726 lectures. Note that the laboratory portion is not offered in BE 526.
• ENG BE 527: Principles and Applications of Tissue Engineering
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGEK301 & ENGEK424 & CASCH101 & CASCH102 & ENGBE209 & ENGBE526) - Provides the physical chemistry and engineering skills needed to solve challenges in the biomaterials and tissue engineering area, concentrating on fundamental physical principles underlying tissue engineering. Requires prior knowledge of biomaterials and basic cell and molecular biology. Team projects and team critical review of primary literature. Same as ENG BE 727, ENG ME 727, ENG MS 727. Students may not receive credit for both. Meets with ENG BE 727 lectures. Note that the laboratory portion is not offered in BE 527.
• ENG BE 533: Biorheology
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGEK424) One of the following courses: ENG BE 420, ENG BE 436 or ENG BE/ME 521. - This is an introductory course whose main goal is to acquaint students with basic concepts of elasticity, viscoelasticity, plasticity, viscoplasticity, poroelasticity, non-Newtonian flow and related phenomena that often characterize mechanical behavior of biological materials. In studying these phenomena, different approaches have been utilized, including methods of continuum mechanics, phenomenological approaches, mathematical modeling and microstructural approaches that relate structural features with the overall behavior. Illustrative examples of application of these methods to studies of various biological materials at the system, organ, tissue, cellular and molecular levels will be presented. The course provides good foundations for further studies in the areas of rheology, mechanics of solids, cellular and tissue mechanics and mechanobiology.
• ENG BE 549: Structure and Function of the Extracellular Matrix
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGBE420) - This is an introductory course dealing with the detailed structure of the basic units of the extracellular matrix including collagen, elastin, microfibrils and proteoglycans as well as the functional properties of these molecules. The focus is mostly on how the structure of these components determine the functional properties such as elasticity at different scales from molecule to fibrils to organ level behavior. The biological role of these components and their interaction with cells is also covered. Interaction of enzymes and the matrix in the presence of mechanical forces is discussed. Mathematical modeling is applied at various length scales of the extracellular matrix that provides quantitative understanding of the structure and function relationship. Special topics include how diseases affect extracellular matrix in the lung, cartilage and vasculature. The relevance of the properties of native extracellular matrix for tissue engineering is also discussed. Same as ENG ME 549 and ENG MS 549. Student may not receive credit for both,
• ENG BE 555: Introduction to Biomedical Optics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGBE403 OR ENGEC401) Requires senior status. - This course surveys the applications of optical science and engineering to a variety of biomedical problems, with emphasis on optical and photonics technologies that enable real, minimally-invasive clinical and laboratory applications. The course teaches only those aspects of the biology itself that are necessary to understand the purpose of the applications. The first weeks introduce the optical properties of tissue, and following lectures cover a range of topics in three general areas: 1) Optical spectroscopy applied to diagnosis of cancer and other tissue pathologies; 2) Photon migration and diffuse optical imaging of subsurface structures in tissue; and 3) new tissue imaging methods, laser-tissue interactions and other applications of light for biomedical research. The format of this course is "semi-flipped." There are assigned readings from the required textbook, prior to each class. Half of class time will invoke informal lecture and discussion, to amplify and clarify the readings; and half of the class time will be in the style of a "flipped" class, devoted to working, in small groups, on problems and discussing and understanding the connection to the readings. Dual listed as ENG EC 555. Students may not receive credit for both.
• ENG BE 556: Optical Spectroscopic Imaging
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: PY 212 or equivalent knowledge of lights and waves, EK 122/125 or equi valent Matlab. Suggested: EC 562 or equivalent; EC 555 or equivalent - This introductory graduate-level course aims to teach students how electromagnetic waves and various forms of molecular spectroscopy can be used to study a complex biological system by pushing the physical limits on engineering system design.The course will cover fundamental concepts of optical spectroscopy and microscopy, followed by specific topics covering fluorescence-based , absorption-based, and scattering-based spectroscopic imaging. In addition, this course will provide in-depth discussions of linear and nonlinear spectroscopic imaging in the aspects of theory, instrumentation, image data analysis and enabling applications. Students will learn how to give a concise and informative presentation of a recent literature to the class. Students will be able to challenge their creativity in designing advanced imaging instrument of data analysis methods as part of their course assignments. The students will learn how to write and present a convincing proposal for the required final project to be designed by interdisciplinary teams formed among the students. Same as ENG EC 556. Students may not receive credit for both.
• ENG BE 559: Foundations of Biomedical Data Science and Machine Learning
  Prerequisites: ENGEK103 and EK381. - This course will cover the conceptual foundations of data science and introductory machine learning for biomedical engineers and serves as a foundational course in data analytics for students in the biomedical sciences. It is designed to follow in depth-study of math (linear algebra, calculus, and probability) and programming and will prepare students for graduate-level classes focusing on more advanced applications of machine learning and data science. This course, taught in Python, will cover the theory and practical applications of hypothesis testing, model fitting and parameter estimation, classification, clustering, dimensionality reduction, and artificial neural networks.
• ENG BE 560: Biomolecular Architecture
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPY212 & CASCH131) or CASCH102 - Provides an introduction to the molecular building blocks and the structure of three major components of the living cells: the nucleic acids, the phospho- lipids membrane, and the proteins. The nucleic acids, DNA and RNA, linear information storing structure as well as their three-dimensional structure are covered in relationship to their function. This includes an introduction to information and coding theory. The analysis tools used in pattern identification representation and functional association are introduced and used to discuss the patterns characteristic of DNA and protein structure and biochemical function. The problems and current approaches to predicting protein structure including those using homology, energy minimization, and modeling are introduced. The future implications of our expanding biomolecular knowledge and of rational drug design are also discussed.
• ENG BE 562: Computational Biology: Machine Learning Fundamentals
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: ENG EK122/125, ENG EK381 AND ENGBE209 - In this course we cover the algorithmic and machine learning foundations of computational biology, combining theory with practice. We study the principles of algorithm design and foundational methods in machine learning. We provide an introduction to important problems in computational biology, and we provide hands on experience analyzing large-scale biological data sets.
• ENG BE 567: Nonlinear Systems in Biomedical Engineering
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. Ordinary differential equa tions required; linear algebra recommended. - Introduction to nonlinear dynamical systems in biomedical engineering. Qualitative, analytical and computational techniques. Stability, bifurcations, oscillations, multistability, hysteresis, multiple time-scales, chaos. Introduction to experimental data analysis and control techniques. Applications discussed include population dynamics, biochemical systems, genetic circuits, neural oscillators, etc.
• ENG BE 571: Introduction to Neuroengineering
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGBE471) - This course covers current and future neurotechnologies for analyzing the brain and for treating neurological and psychiatric diseases. It focuses on the biophysical, biochemical, anatomical principles governing the design of the current neurotechnologies, with a goal of encouraging innovations of new generation of therapies. Topics include basic microscopic and macroscopic architecture of the brain, the fundamental properties of individual neurons and ensemble neural networks, electrophysiology, DBS, TMS, various imaging methods, optical neural control technologies, optogenetics, neuropharmacology, and gene/stem-cell therapies. Discussions of related literatures and design projects will be involved. Enrollment is limited to 30 students. The course is open to MS, MEng, and PhD students, as well as qualified undergraduate seniors. Same as ENG BE 771. Students may not receive credit for both.
• ENG BE 572: Neurotechnology Devices
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGBE403) - From electro-physiology to optical and MRI, non-invasive to invasive, neuro-sensing to neuro-modulation, and spanning applications in humans and animals; this course will cover the latest developments in devices used to study the brain. The course will center around several recent journal papers that introduces or utilizes novel devices for the advancement of neuroscience. For each paper, there will be one or two lectures on the background behind the specific neurotechnology advanced or utilized in the paper. In the following class, students will be required to critically discuss the given paper, with the discussion led by a group of assigned students who will first present an overview of the paper. Homeworks and the final project will further enhance critial review of the literature and investigation of neurotechnology devices. Same as ENG BE 772. Students may not receive credit for both.
• ENG BE 601: Linear Algebra
  The first of four math modules designed to reinforce basic mathematical and computer programming concepts pertinent to graduate research in biomedical engineering. This course will emphasize the five cornerstones of applied linear algebra: Linear combinations, decompositions, orthogonality, metric, and linear transformations. Topics include LU and QR factorizations, finite difference methods for solving partial differential equations (PDEs), least squares, Fourier series and wavelets, solid mechanics, Markov chains, principal component analysis, and signal processing techniques. This course will provide the necessary linear algebra background needed to solve problems in BE 602, 603 and 604.
• ENG BE 604: Statistics & Numerical Methods
  In the final math module, we will focus on how linear algebra, ODEs, statistics, and signals & systems techniques can be used to interrogate data from biological and engineering experiments. The lecture topics include: Jacobi, Gauss-Seidel, and SOR iterative solvers for large linear systems; Gauss-Newton iterations (nonlinear least-squares); the ANOVA table, multi- factor regression, and intro to the general linear model (GLM); data deconvolution; Monte Carlo, bootstrap, and kernel density estimation. Prior exposure to linear algebra (BE 601 equivalent), basic probability and statistics (BE 200 equivalent), and working knowledge of a programming language (Matlab, Python, etc.) is highly recommended.
• ENG BE 605: Molecular Bioengineering
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Required for biomedical engineering graduate students. - Provides engineering perspectives on the building blocks of living cells and the use of these components for biotechnological applications. Topics covered include biological pathways for synthesis of DNA, RNA and proteins; transduction, transmission, storage and retrieval of biological information by macromolecules; polymerase chain reaction, restriction enzymes, DNA sequencing and DNA assembly; design principles of synthetic biological circuits; cooperative proteins, multi-protein complexes and control of metabolic pathways; and generation, storage, transmission and release of biomolecular energy.
• ENG BE 606: Quantitative Physiology for Engineers
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Required for biomedical engineering graduate students. - Course in human physiology for biomedical engineering students. Fundamentals of cellular and systems physiology, including the nervous, muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, gastrointestinal, and endocrine systems. Quantitative and engineering approaches will be applied to understanding physiological concepts.
• ENG BE 694: Biomedical and Clinical Needs Finding
  This course is required for students enrolled in the BME Master of Engineering program and is taught in conjunction with BE 695 (requires co-registration). In this course, student teams will work with their Clinical Advisor, a clinician practicing at Boston Medical Center in their selected clinical specialty, to observe first-hand how technology is applied to the diagnosis and treatment of patients. Detailed and comprehensive observation logs will be maintained by each student, recording their visits to the clinic. Opportunities for improving the current standard of care through technology and new product development will be explored through the "Clinical Needs Finding" process. Fall only. Restricted to BME MEng students only.