MPHY0009: Clinical Engineering

Module information

Unit value: 0.5
Year of study: 2
Term: 1
Course organiser: Dr Julian Henty and Professor Adam Gibson
Second examiner: Dr Christos Bergeles, Professor Nick Donaldson, Dr Martin Fry

Purpose

To demonstrate the role of a hospital-based clinical engineer
To present the basic principles behind recording measurements from the human body
To present the practical challenges which occur in a hospital environment
To explain the safety aspects and regulations which are relevant to practical biomedical engineering

Current students should see the moodle page for this module.

Aims and Objectives

To be able to describe different methods by which signals are recorded from the body
To understand the work and challenges faced by a hospital-based clinical engineer
To be familiar with a range of hospital environments and understand the clinical engineer’s role in different environments
To understand relevant safety principles and regulations.

Brief Syllabus

PART 1 – Transducers and Physiological Monitoring (8 h)

Measurement variables; pressure transducers; piezoelectric sensors; Temperature sensing; flow, velocity and volume sensors; optical sensors

PART 2 – Practical clinical engineering (16h)

1. Clinical Equipment - bedside monitoring / intensive care

2. Hospital visits - Medical Physics department within ICU, UCLH, Theatre anaesthetic room, UCLH, UCLH Education Centre

3. Guest lectures: Intensivist/anaesthetist and patient care in ITU

4. Measurement Problems and Fault Finding - Bedside monitoring equipment, visit to UCLH Education Centre for practical with broken equipment/leads

PART 3 – Safety and Regulations (8h)

the effects of electricity on the body, impedance, mains electricity supply, causes of electric shock, electrical safety regulations, quality management and the regulatory processes.

'product life-cycle', from identifying the need and conception of the product, to MHRA (the oesophageal Doppler device meets American FDA approval as it is more stringent), to clinical use

Teaching and exams

Teaching will consist of:

Lectures, 28 hours.
Seminars/problem classes, 4 hours.
Labs, 4 hours.
Required written work, 20 hours.

The assessment will consist of:

Unseen written examination (2 hours) worth 60% of the total course mark.
Written coursework/project assignments completed during term-time worth 40% of the total course mark.

Module information

Unit value: 0.5
Year of study: 2
Term: 1
Course organiser: Dr Julian Henty and Professor Adam Gibson
Second Examiner: Dr Christos Bergeles, Professor Nick Donaldson, Dr Martin Fry

Prerequisites

We assume that you have met the minimum entry requirements for our undergraduate degree programmes (i.e. A level Mathematics (grade A preferred), Physics and one other A level at ABB or above, or equivalent). If you feel you meet the prerequisites through a non-standard route, please contact the module organiser. All variants of the module (MPHY102P) have the same prerequisites.

Specific knowledge assumed:

Mathematics: Familiarity with manipulation of equations, trigonometry, differential and integral calculus (mixed polynomial and exponential functions), exponentials, vectors, and basic matrices.

Physics / Engineering: Basic electronics (resistors, capacitors, circuit theory, amplifiers).

Biology: None, but need to be willing to grapple with the life science concepts introduced within examples and practical activities of the module.

Core Texts

There are no suitable text books for most of this module. Reading material will be provided.