Bridging biomedical basics with practical applications in BME laboratory education

A sophisticated biomedical engineering (BME) laboratory course was designed to integrate state-of-the-art technology with a hands on learning approach in a flexible, virtual-based, clinical application setting. The need for biomedical engineers in research and industry has increased rapidly in recent years. This requires that innovative methods for training BME students evolve to meet that need. BME students should be prepared with a skill set for approaching practical problems. BME education requires hands on learning with cutting edge technology to produce students ready to solve clinical problems in research and industry. Exposing students to a wide range of BME applications not only increases interest, but also better prepares them to solve real world problems. A wide range of BME laboratories have been designed to encompass both the basics of physiological signals and how to effectively utilize them in practical applications. These application interfaces are critical for students to understand how physiological signals may be manipulated to produce meaningful benefits for various medical disorders and rehabilitation needs. The laboratory course presented in this paper was implemented and evaluated at several universities. Utilizing the virtual environment for practical applications bridges the gap between fundamentals and real world designs.