Courses

Biomedical Ultrasound (BME 451)
Presents the physical basis for the use of high-frequency sound in medicine. Topics include acoustic properties of tissue, sound propagation (both linear and nonlinear) in tissues, interaction of ultrasound with gas bodies (acoustic cavitation and contrast agents), thermal and non-thermal biological effects, ultrasonography, dosimetry, hyperthermia, and lithotripsy.

Ultrasound Imaging (BME 453)
Investigates the imaging techniques applied in state-of-the-art ultrasound imaging and their theoretical bases. Topics include linear acoustic systems, spatial impulse responses, the k-space formulation, methods of acoustic field calculation, dynamic focusing and apodization, scattering, the statistics of acoustic speckle, speckle correlation, compounding techniques, phase aberration correction, velocity estimation, and flow imaging.

Medical Imaging-Theory and Implementation (ECE 452)
Provides an introduction to the principles of X-ray, CT, PET, MRI, and ultrasound imaging. The emphasis is on providing linear models of each modality, which allows linear systems and Fourier transform techniques to be applied to analysis problems.

Fundamentals of Acoustical Waves (ECE 432)
Introduces acoustical waves. Topics include acoustic wave equation; plane, spherical, and cylindrical wave propagation; reflection and transmission at boundaries; normal modes; absorption and dispersion; radiation from points, spheres, cylinders, pistons, and arrays; diffraction; and nonlinear acoustics.

MR Imaging: From Spins to Brains (BME 513)
Introduces the physics of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and reviews its application to medical imaging. Provides a comprehensive background of the MR imaging technique and its application to medical or research issues. Discusses how the MR technique takes advantage of physiological principles and tissue structure to provide diagnostic images for clinicians and researchers. Introduces functional brain imaging and related issues in data analysis.

Biosolid Mechanics (BME 483)
This course examines the application of engineering mechanics to biological tissues, including bone, soft tissue, cell membranes, and muscle. Other topics include realistic modeling of biological structures, including musculoskeletal joints and tissues, investigations of the responses of biological tissues to mechanical factors, and experimental methods and material models.

Elasticity (ME 449)
Presents an analysis of stress and strain, equilibrium, compatibility, elastic stress-strain relations, and material symmetries. Additional topics include torsion and bending of bars, plane stress and plane strain, stress functions, applications to half-plane and half-space problems, wedges, notches, and 3D problems via potentials.

Digital Image Processing (ECE 447)

Digital image fundamentals. Intensity transformation functions, histogram processing, fundamentals of spatial filtering. Filtering the frequency domain. Image restoration and reconstruction. Multi-resolution processing. Morphological image processing. Image segmentation.

Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis (BME 487)
Examines the theory and application of nonlinear finite element analysis in solid and biosolid mechanics. Topics include generalization of FE concepts, review of solid mechanics, nonlinear incremental analysis, displacement-based FE formulation for large displacements and large strains, nonlinear constitutive relations, incompressibility and contact conditions, rubber-like materials, biomechanical materials, and solution methods.

Biomedical Optics (BME 492)
Introduces the major diagnostic methods in biomedical optics. The course emphasizes spectroscopy (absorption, fluorescence, Raman, elastic scattering), photon migration techniques (steady-state and time-resolved), and high-resolution subsurface imaging (confocal, multi-photon, optical coherence tomography). Essential methods of multivariate data analysis are taught in the context of spectroscopy.

Physiological Control Systems (BME 428)
Focuses on the application of control theory to physiological systems. Presents modern control theory in the context of physiological systems that use feedback mechanisms. Begins with an overview of linear systems analysis, including Laplace transforms and transfer functions. Discusses the response dynamics of open- and closed-loop systems such as the regulation of cardiac output and level of glucose, stability analysis, and identification of physiological control systems.

Signals, Noise, and Matrix Methods (BME 592)
Theory and practice (with Matlab) of signal processing and analysis with applications to problems in biomedicine. Topics include linear systems and applied linear algebra, random signals, spectral and time frequency analysis, deconvolution, least square estimators, continuous and discrete Fourier transforms in one and multiple dimensions, filter design, Singular Value Decomposition of matrices, and Principle Components Analysis. Theory illustrated with applications from neuroscience and medical imaging.