42-101 Introduction to Biomedical Engineering Fall 2006

Instructor: Prof. Bob Tilton

Office: Doherty Hall 1208
Phone: 8-1159
E-mail: tilton@andrew.cmu.edu
Office Hours: T 9:00-10:30 AM

Teaching Assistants:
Paul Glass
E-mail: pglass@andrew.cmu.edu
Office Hours: T 3:30-5:00 PM
O.H. Location: DH 2100
Rowena Mittal
E-mail: rowena@cmu.edu
Office Hours: M 4:00-5:30 PM
O.H. Location: DH 2100
Steve Sun
E-mail:
stevesun@andrew.cmu.edu
Office Hours: R 1:30-3:00 PM
O.H. Location: DH 2100

Lectures: MF 2:30 – 3:20 PM, W 2:30 – 4:20 PM, Baker Hall 136A

Textbook: None. Lecture notes to be distributed.

Website: http://www.cmu.edu/blackboard/
From the “blackboard@Carnegie Mellon” welcome page, log-in using your Andrew i.d. and
follow instructions to access the blackboard webpage for this course.

Overview:
The primary purpose of this course is to prepare students with minimal or no prior engineering
experience for the biomedical engineering double major or minor. The course is based on the
model that students are experiencing their first engineering exposure at the same time as they are
learning calculus. Prior knowledge of calculus is not assumed, but elementary calculus concepts
will be introduced and used as needed to solve biomedical engineering problems.

In this course you will get an overview of what it is that biomedical engineers do, but, much
more importantly, you will begin to learn how to do what biomedical engineers do. This course
definitely is not intended to be a survey of the biomedical engineering profession or a recounting
of the latest biotechnological devices. For each topic we cover, the goal is for you to learn how
to think as a biomedical engineer. You will be exposed to a set of basic knowledge that
biomedical engineers draw upon to do their work. As you advance in your education, you will
acquire increasingly sophisticated engineering, science and mathematics skills, and your problem
solving skills will mature, but the basic thought processes required to solve problems will not
change that much.

An important goal of this course is to establish the equal importance of biological understanding
and fundamental engineering understanding for a biomedical engineer. As a profession,
biomedical engineering is unusually diverse in its applications and the knowledge bases on
which it relies. Biomedical engineering has evolved separately from many distinct disciplines,
emerging from its origins as a collection of biologically relevant applications of each of the
traditional engineering disciplines and basic sciences. We at Carnegie Mellon believe that a
biomedical engineer must be well versed in a fundamental engineering disciplinary approach and
in biology. A biomedical engineer must have sufficient biological knowledge to identify and
understand what an important medical or biotechnological problem looks like and must have
sufficient engineering analysis and design skills to solve the problem. In this course you will
have to chance to apply the principles of several different engineering disciplines to the solution
of biomedical problems.

Academic Policies:
Students are expected to adhere to Carnegie Mellon standards of academic integrity as
documented in the Student Handbook.

Many students learn best through collaborative activities. Accordingly, students are allowed and
encouraged to collaborate with others on homework sets. Acceptable collaboration on
homework sets consists of i) discussing and comparing solution methods and ii) comparing
results. Merely copying the work of others is not productive for any of the students involved and
is not acceptable. Suspected instances of rote copying will be challenged by the graders.

Grading Policies:
Determination of Course Grades
Homework 10% ~ weekly.
Mid-Term 3 @ 20% 1h: 50 min exams given in the following Wednesday
Exams each class sessions: Oct. 11, Nov. 8. Dec. 6
Final Exam 30% Date TBA (exam week runs 12/11-19)

The purpose of homework

Homework problems will come in two forms: exercises that serve to directly reinforce concepts
introduced in the lecture and open-ended problems that help you learn how to define an objective
that can be expressed quantitatively, apply scientific and/or mathematical concepts, conceive and
possibly choose among several alternative solution approaches, and ultimately synthesize and
describe a solution to a problem. Open-ended problems best represent the professional lives of
engineers.

What to expect on exams

Exams will test both qualitative and quantitative understanding of concepts. You may be asked
to qualitatively explain an observation, propose a hypothesis for an experimental result, or
predict the outcome of an experiment. You will also be asked to complete exercises and solve
open-ended problems. It is the nature of open-ended problems that at first glance they may seem
unrelated to the homework sets, but in fact they are based on the same set of concepts. There
will not be any exam problems that are not based on concepts covered in the homework.

Scoring
Every homework problem will be equally weighted in your overall course grade. In other words,
each problem is worth 10 points: so a homework set with three problems is worth 30 points, five
problems is worth 50 points, etc. A cautionary note – don’t assume that homeworks are not
important because they only comprise 10% of your grade. Students who don’t complete the
homeworks typically have more difficulty on exams.

Clarity of presentation
It is essential for engineers to clearly communicate not only their results but also their problem
solving process. A solution that is not understood will never be used. Accordingly, graders will
penalize problem solutions that are not neatly prepared, clearly organized and adequately
explained. Avoid turning in “stream of consciousness” problem solutions. Often it is best to
reflect on your methods after you have come up with your solution, then think about how to best
present your solution in an orderly manner. Graders are looking to award partial credit on
problem solutions that are not completely correct, but it is difficult to do so if the problem
solution is hard to follow.

Broad Topics

• Introductory Concepts
o Overview of biomedical engineering and its relationship to other engineering
and scientific disciplines
o Units and significant figures
• The fundamental scientific basis for biomedical engineering
o Elementary molecular components of living systems
o Systems engineering view of living systems
o How biomolecules work and how their work is coordinated
• Biomedical Engineering applications
o Engineering modeling of organ function
ƒ Kidney function and dialysis
o Diagnostic Tools:
ƒ Biosensors
ƒ Bioimaging
o Biomechanics
ƒ Cardiovascular and pulmonary fluid mechanics
o Biomaterials and regenerative medicine
o Drug delivery
ƒ Pharmacokinetics – pharmaceutical dosage regimens
ƒ Drug delivery technologies
• Biodegradable depots
• Inhalation drugs
42-101 Course Outcomes
The following table lists the intended outcomes for students who complete this course. The full
table lists the desired outcomes upon completion of the entire curriculum, but not every outcome
is addressed in every class. This list varies slightly from one major to another, but it is
representative of engineering majors at Carnegie Mellon.

Outcome Mechanism
Direct Emphases
• Acquire mathematics, science and engineering homework and exams
skills, and the ability to apply them to solve
engineering problems

• Acquire ability to design and conduct experiments homework and exams

and interpret data

• Acquire ability to design a process or product homework

• Acquire ability to identify, formulate, and solve homework

engineering problems

• Acquire ability to use techniques, skills, and homework, use of selected

modern engineering tools necessary for engineering software packages
practice

• Acquire ability to communicate effectively homework and exams

Ancillary Emphases
• Acquire understanding of professional and ethical in-class discussion and
responsibility reading
• Acquire knowledge of contemporary issues facing in-class discussion and
engineers reading

Not Emphasized in This Course

• Acquire ability to function on multidisciplinary
teams

• Acquire broad education necessary to understand

engineering solutions in global/societal context

• Acquire appreciation of the need and ability to

engage in life-long learning