Engineering Principles in Medical Diagnostics Course Syllabus (Fall 1997)

Schedule:

1st class: 09/03/97 Introduction + Background I (Math basics)
2nd class: 09/10/97 Background II (Physics basics)
3rd class: 09/17/97 Electrical Modalities: ECG
4th class: 09/24/97 X-ray Imaging
5th class: 10/08/97 Emission Imaging I: PET and SPECT
6th class: 10/15/97 Midterm Exam
7th class: 10/22/97 MRI I
8th class: 10/29/97 MRI II
9th class: 11/05/97 Emission Imaging II: Kinetic tracer analysis
10th class: 11/12/97 Lab session and review + guest lecture
11th class: 11/19/97 Acoustic
12th class: 12/03/97 Fluid Flow and Temperature
13th class: 12/10/97 Issues in Image and Signal Quality and Evaluation
14th class: 12/17/97 Final Exam

The BME-503 course content is directed towards an understanding of the biology and engineering of medical-diagnostic signals. Given the nature and disparity of topics, the course is organized by modality. Within each modality, we attempt to cover three aspects: (a) Biological and Physical Origin of Signal, (b) Signal Acquisition and Detection, and (c) Analysis and Computation. For example, in order to study these three aspects for the modality of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we need to review, as part (a) the anatomy and physiology of cerebral microcirculation, (b) the basic physics of MR imaging, and (c) the data processing needed to form the resulting image. Here, the scale of the underlying physiology is that of the microcirculation (capillaries, 10's of mu) and the scale of the image formation is approximately mm resolution.

Much of the material on biology and physiology from the BME-501 and BME-502 courses is indeed useful, and will be used in BME-503 when possible, and introduced when necessary. However, there is a substantial component of applied mathematics and basic physics that is absolutely needed in understanding parts (b) and (c) for each modality. Since much of this math and physics material is common to sereral modalities, we will devote Section I of the course to two lectures covering this material. Section II, the bulk of the course, covers seven modalities. After a diagnostic signal has been measured, one must still assess its utility vz. the tradeoff of sensitivity and specificity. The basics of this topic is discussed in a final Section III.

We plan to use Matlab for the course computer projects, since this is generally familiar to many students, is available at many sites other than the PIBE lab, is easy to learn, and is familiar to the instructors. Two projects, one on ROC analysis and one on MR imaging, will be required.

There is no specific text, though all students are urged to purchase a copy of "The Biomedical Engineering Handbook." We make use of texts from BME-501 and BME-502 whenever feasible. Extensive use of journal articles supplements the texts.

An overall objective of BME503 is that of instilling an appreciation of the interaction of basic physical considerations and physiology in the design and understanding of new biomedical imaging and sensing systems.

Lecture 1 Introduction and Background; Mathematical Topics (9/3)
(a) Overview of the modalities
(b) Miscellaneous math basics
(c) Signal processing basics
(d) Image processing, especially reconstruction

Lecture 2 Introduction and Background; Physical Aspects (9/10)
(a) Nuclear, atomic and molecular physics basics
(b) Basic electromagnetism; atomic optical physics
(c) Gamma-ray sources, X-ray generation
(d) Physics of ultrasound

Lecture 3 Electrical Medical Diagnostics - ECG (9/17)
(a) Cardiac anatomy and physiology; electrical aspects
(b) Electromagnetic aspects of ECG
(c) Measurement and interpretation of the ECG signal

Lecture 4 X-rays in Medical Diagnostics (9/24)
(a) Image formation and computed tomography
(b) X-ray angiography and circulatory physiology
(c) Mammography and cancer biology

Lecture 5 Emission imaging I: PET and SPECT biology (10/8)
(a) Radiopharmaceuticals, detector geometries, disease labelling
(b) Blood flow and metabolism
(c) Brain anatomy; functional activation in PET

Midterm exam 10/15

Lecture 6 Magnetic Resonance Modality I (10/22)
(a) MRI image formation basics; pulse sequences
(b) MR angiography - physiology of cerebral blood flow
(c) Diffusion and perfusion imaging with MR, tagged MR for cardiac motion

Lecture 7 Magnetic Resonance Modality II (10/29)
(a) Origin of the BOLD signal; deoxygenation
(b) Physiology and neurosciencs of brain activation
(c) fMRI in activation analysis - tactile, visual, cognitive tasks

Lecture 8 Emission imaging II: Tracer kinetic analysis (11/05)
(a) Basic principles of tracer kinetics in physiology
(b) Mathematics of compartmental analysis: Laplace transform
(c) Application to regional metabolic functional maps in PET brain imaging

Lecture 9 Laboratory session and review; Guest lecture on kinetic analysis in PET (11/12)
(a) Discussion and help with course projects
(b) Matlab specifics
(c) Lecture by Dr. Cliff Patlak on kinetic analysis in PET metabolic brain imaging

Lecture 10 Acoustical signals and Ultrasound in Medical Diagnosis (11/5)
(a) Biological acoustic Signals - source and diagnostic meaning
(b) Diagnostic ultrasound generation, propagation and detection
(c) Imaging parameters and their related physiology

Lecture 11 Fluid/Temperature Measurements in Medical Diagnostics (12/3)
(a) Fluid dynamics in living organisms; fluid dynamics basics
(b) Blood flow physiology and measurement
(c) Temperature regulation mechanisms and measurement
(d) Temperature mapping by MRI

Lecture 12 Image and signal quality and evaluation (12/10)
(a) Task performance analysis; application of ROC curve
(b) Use of quantitative ROC metrics to guide engineering design

Final exam : 12/17/97

Given the disparate nature of the material and backgrounds of students, we shall attempt to base the course grade on (i) analytic skill in understanding engineering aspects, (ii) basic understanding of the relevant biology, and (iii) projects of an engineering design nature. There will be four homework sets and two projects, as well as a midterm and final exam. The assessment is:
Midterm 25%
Final 25%
Projects I and II 25%
Homeworks 25%