This page serves as a resource for students interested in rehabilitation science and engineering at Marquette. While we attempt to periodically update this page, for more definitive information see the official on-line BIEN Course Offerings (Undergraduate Bulletin) and the current Graduate Bulletin.

Courses described below are grouped as follows:

Rehabilitative Bioengineering and Rehabilitation Engineering

Biomechanics (rehabilitation, orthopedics, cardiopulmonary, trauma)

Physiologic Modeling & Neurocontrol Systems, and Biocomputing

Imaging & Signal Processing

Biology, Anatomy, Physiology & Allied Health

BIEN 167.  Rehabilitation Engineering:  Telerehabilitation and Neurorehabilitation (3). Principles and applications of rehabilitative assessment and therapy, with special focus on the use of technology to enhance access and consideration of the continuum of care as an optimization problem. Overview of sensorimotor systems, as related to human performance and usability analysis. Models for telerehabilitation, with focus on telemonitoring and teletherapy. Innovative tools for human performance and outcomes assessment, with focus on videoconferencing, wireless and augmentative communication technologies, and roles for integrating sensor-based measurement with conventional assessment. Innovations in assessment and intervention strategies for neurorehabilitation. Includes hands-on laboratory demonstrations/assignments and a final project.  

BIEN 168. Rehabilitation Engineering: Prosthetics, Orthotics, Seating and Positioning (3).  This course will present an overview of biomedical engineering as it applies to Rehabilitation Engineering. Topics to be covered include: medical and disability terminology, neuromusculoskeletal anatomy, muscle and soft tissue mechanics, amputation surgery and prosthetic management, upper and lower extremity prosthetics and orthotics, hand functions and therapy, electromyography, seating & positioning, and assistive devices.

BIEN 268 Principles of Rehabilitative Biosystems (3). Rehabilitation involves plastic changes in biological systems in response to a targeted stimulus. These adaptive processes involve dynamic responses in cells and tissues to chemical, mechanical, or electrical stimuli (which may be related), which may be influenced or directed using engineering techniques. This course examines the homeostasis of physiologic systems and their responses to pathologic and rehabilitative stimuli. Engineering applications involving the diagnosis and rehabilitation musculoskeletal, neurologic and pulmonary biosystems will be examined in the context of the underlying cellular mechanisms.

BIEN 269 Modeling Rehabilitative Biosystems (3). Mathematical modeling is a widely used tool for helping understand underlying mechanisms of physiological systems in health, disease, and recovery. This course introduces students to large-scale mathematical models of various physiological systems of interest in rehabilitation (e.g., cardiovascular, pulmonary, musculoskeletal, etc.). For each, simulations are used to further our understanding of the adaptive processes of these systems in response to physiological/pathophysiological stresses and rehabilitative interventions.  Prerequisite; BIEN 152 and BIEN 268 or BIEN 167 or consent of instructor.

BIEN 289 Clinical Training & Research in Rehabilitative Medicine (3). Participation in the didactic seminar series for physical medicine and rehabilitation residents (which meets one afternoon per week for 3 hours and targets a range of issues related to clinical rehabilitation theory and practice), in attending PM&R Grand Round seminars (which are normally on alternate weeks), and in attending 8 outpatient clinics led by PM&R faculty of 2-3 hours. Course includes short exams, short structured written reports, and a final project.

BIEN 151 Rehabilitation Robotics (3). This course will present the fundamentals of robotics as it is applied to Rehabilitation Engineering. Specifically, topics include the fundamentals of analysis and design of robot manipulators with examples and mini-projects taken from rehabilitation applications pertaining to robotic therapy devices and personal assistants; Topics to be covered include: Overview of rehabilitation robotics field, human-centered design of rehabilitation robots issues and challenges, robot configurations, rigid motions and homogeneous transformations, Denavit-Hartenberg representation, robot kinematics and inverse kinematics, Euler-Lagrange equations, trajectory generation, sensors, actuators, independent joint control, force control, and safety.

Biomechanics:

BIEN 230. Musculoskeletal Biomechanics 1 (3) The interrelationship of force and motion will be emphasized as related to anatomic structure and function. The student will become acquainted with the forces and motions acting in the skeletal system and the various techniques used to describe them. Current concepts as revealed in the recent scientific and engineering literature will be highlighted. Topics covered include bone mechanics, joint mechanics, gait kinematics, instrumentation and measurement of biomechanical phenomena, and computer modeling of the muscoskeletal system. Offered alternate years.

BIEN 231. Musculoskeletal Biomechanics 2 (3) Advanced concepts of kinematics and mechanics as they apply to the fields of biomechanics and rehabilitation. Aspects of gait, bone and joint surgery, and soft tissue surgery will be covered. Detailed study of joint mechanics, implant applications and mobility device function will be performed. The course will include advanced analysis and modeling as well as laboratory-based final project. Offered alternate years.

Also of possible interest under biomechanics:

• BIEN 153. Applied Finite Element Analysis in Biomechanics (3). This course will introduce the finite element solution method for linear, static problems. The course will include calculation of element stiffness matrices, assembly of global stiffness matrices, exposure to various finite element solution methods, and numerical integration. Although the course will emphasize structural mechanic, heat transfer and fluid mechanics application in finite element analysis will also be discussed. Computer assignments will include development of finite element code (FORTRAN or C) and also use of commercial finite element software (ANSYS or MARC).
• BIEN 170. Introduction to Biomaterials Science and Engineering (3) Introduction to the principal areas in the Materials Science structure and bonding, crystallography and mechanical properties of materials. Techniques to study structure and properties of materials, structure and mechanical properties of bone and various implant materials and their mode of failures.
• BIEN 183. Cardiopulmonary Mechanics (3). Examination of the physiological behavior of the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems from an engineering perspective. Emphasis will be on understanding the mechanical basis of physiologic phenomena via experimental models. Offered periodically.
• BIEN 221. Biomechanical and Biomaterial Systems Analysis (3). Using fundamentals of biomaterials engineering and biocompatibility, this course is designed to analyze the functions that organs serve and to analyze the efficiency and safety of artificial organs systems. Some organs/tissues that will be discussed include the kidneys, liver, skeleton, skin, heart, muscles, eyes, and ears. The suitability of state-of-the-art artificial organ systems, including artificial hearts, orthopaedic prostheses, kidney dialyzers, and cochlear devices to fulfill the functions of the replaced organs/tissues will be critically examined.
• BIEN 222. Biomedical Engineering Analysis of Trauma (3). An engineering analysis of the physiological changes following impact to the head, spinal cord, and limbs, and electrical events and effects on tissues are treated. Offered occasionally.
• BIEN 232. Applied Finite Element Analysis of Biomechanics 1 (3). Introduction to finite element analysis as applied to linear, static problems. Application to problems in plane strain, plane stress, and axisymmetry. Development of shape functions and element stiffness matrices. Although primarily structural analysis, will also consider problems in heat transfer and fluid mechanics. Use of user-written and packaged software. Offered fall semester, alternate years.
• BIEN 233. Applied Finite Element Analysis in Biomechanics 2 (3). Advanced finite element analysis as applied to nonlinear (both material and geometric non-linearities), dynamic problems. Use of penalty methods and perturbed Lagrangian methods. Use of user-written and packaged software. Critical reviews of finite element analysis in biomechanical research. Offered occasionally.
• BIEN 235. Biomechanics of the Spine (3) Clinical and biomechanically relevant anatomy of the human vertebral column will be emphasized. The anatomical and functional interrelationships between the various hard and soft tissue structures of the spinal structures as a function of age, disease and trauma will be analyzed. Special emphasis will be given to the mechanisms of external and internal load transfer in the vertebral column through the medium of vertebrae, intervertebral discs, ligaments, muscles and the various joints of the spine. Applications using imaging tools such as x-ray, CT, MRI, and experimental and analytical techniques such as the finite element method will be used to understand the effects of physiologic and traumatic loading, surgical interventions and conservative management of patients with spinal disorders including low back pain. Current practices and concepts from the biomechanical and clinical literature will be highlighted. The use of literature searches and/or analysis/design projects is included in the course.
• INEN 164 Ergonomics (3).  Ergonomics maximizes the health and safety of workers, while maintaining productivity and quality. This course will cover biomechanical and physiologic aspect of workplace design, such as engineering anthropometry, cumulative trauma disorders, (including carpal tunnel syndrome), low back injuries, handtool design and evaluation, methods of surveilance in industrial enviroments, modeling, and ergonomics guidelines. Laboratory seesions are offered to demonstrate ergononmic principles and also provide students with hands-on experience in collecting data and conducting experiments. Lecture/Laboratory. Offered fall term.Prereq: ENME 022 and INEN 140; or equivalent.

Physiologic Modeling, Neurocontrol Systems, & Biocomputing:

BIEN 152. Analysis of Physiological Models (3)  Development of continuous (compartmental), and distributed-in-space-and-time mathematical models of physiological systems and molecular events. Analytical and numerical methods for solving differential equations of the initial and boundary value types. Simulation of model response, and estimation of model parameters using linear and nonlinear regression analysis.

BIEN 157. Intelligent Biosystems ( 3). Principles and performance of bio control systems, with emphasis on the use of simulation as a tool to understand adaptive bioprocesses and clinical decision-support systems.  Survey of intelligent "soft computing" tools (adaptive neural networks, fuzzy systems, genetic algorithms), with special focus on recurrent neurocontrollers for physiologic systems and on fuzzy expert systems for clinical diagnosis (including integration of expert reasoning and biomonitored signals).  Includes self-selected student project in one of these two areas. Prereq: BIEN 155 or consent of instructor.

BIEN 160. Neural Engineering (3).  Basic principles of neural engineering, properties of excitable tissues, quantitative models used to examine the mechanisms of natural and artificial stimulation.  Basic concepts for the design of neuroprosthetic devices for sensory, motor and therapeutic applications.  Design issues including electrode type, biomaterials, tissue response to stimulating electrodes and stimulus parameters for electrical stimulation and artificial control.  Examples of how engineering interfaces with neural tissue show increasing promise in the rehabilitiation of individuals with neural impairment. Prereq: MATH 083, PHYS 004.

BIEN 201. Analysis of Physiological Systems ( 3).  Introduction to the use of mathematical models in quantifying physiological systems. Model formulation will be analyzed. Applications of analytical and numerical solution techniques and parameter estimation methods. Offered occasionally.

BIEN 237.  Neuromotor Control (3).  Overview of current issues in neuromotor control and movement biomechanics. Special emphasis on the study of normal and impaired human movement.  Topics include muscle mechanics, biomechanics of movement, neural circuitry, strategies for the neural control of movement (including a discussion of adaptation and motor learning) and potential applications of biomedical engineering techniques to the study and improvement of impaired motor function.  Offered occasionally. Prereq: BIEN 155 or equivalent (may be taken concurrently).

259. Advanced Topics in Biomedical Computing (3). Application of signal processing, information management, modeling and artificial intelligence techniques in biomedical research and clinical environments. Project approach drawing from current literature and data from laboratories of affiliated institutions. Typical projects include analysis of serially recorded neurophysiologic data, development and solution of physiologic models, application of artificial intelligence to ordering of diagnostic terminology. Offered occasionally.

Also of possible interest under physiologic modeling & biocontrol systems:

BIEN 181. Bioengineering Neurology (3) Concepts of the nervous system and their relationships from developmental, organizational and functional standpoints. Equivalent, lumped parameter and distributed models of nerves and muscles. The structure and function of synapses and multiple branching dendrites; linear and nonlinear analysis of membranes. Design of electronic and distributed systems.

EECE 215 Neural Networks and Neural Computing (3).  Introduction to artificial neural networks and neural computing. Multilayer perceptron models and back propagation. Recurrent and feedforward associative neural networks. Kohonen models and counterpropagation networks. Adaptive resonance theory and Boltzmann machines. Simulated annealing. Applications include optimization, pattern recognition in signal processing and control algorithms. Prereq: COEN 030 or COSC 148 and a basic knowledge of differential calculus and matrix algebra.  Also offered as COEN 131 Neural Networks and Neural Computing. MS in Computing students should register for this course as 215.  

EECE 216 Expert Systems (3). Introduction to artificial intelligence and expert systems. Knowledge presentation and the knowledge base. Knowledge acquisition. Inference engines. Forward and backward chaining. Case-based reasoning and hybrid expert systems. Applications for expert systems. Prereq: COEN 030 or COSC 148.

EECE 217 Computer Architecture (3).  Review of basic computer architecture. Evaluation of architecture performance. Design and evaluation of instruction sets. Pipeline processors and instruction scheduling. Vector processors. Memory hierarchy and design, including cache, main and virtual memories. Memory protection schemes. Input/output and its relation to system performance. Prereq: EECE 171.

Imaging & Signal Processing:

BIEN 250. Biomedical Signal Processing ( 3).  This course introduces students to statistical processing of biomedical data. Topics include data acquisition, probability and estimation, signal averaging, power spectrum analysis, windowing, digital filters and data compression. Students will complete several computer projects which apply these processing methods to physiologic signals. Offered alternate years.

BIEN 184. Image Processing for the Biomedical Sciences ( 3).  This course serves as an introduction to biomedical image processing. Over the past three decades, digital image processing has expanded from a small, dedicated research area to a large array of techniques and algorithms employed by scientists and practitioners in a wide variety of fields including astronomy, agriculture, biology, chemistry, physics and medicine. Topics explored include the human visual system, spatial sampling and digitization, image transforms, spatial filtering, Fourier analysis, image enhancement and restoration, nonlinear and adaptive filters, color image processing, geometrical operations and morphological filtering, image coding and compression, image segmentation, feature extraction, and object classification. Applications in diagnostic medicine, biology, and biomedical research will be emphasized and presented as illustrative examples.

BIEN 249. Advanced Topics in Biomedical Instrumentation (3).  Advanced topics in design and analysis of biomedical instruments, devices, and interfaces. Project approach drawing from current literature and current projects of laboratories of affiliated institutions. Topics include bioelectronics, biomechanics, biomaterials, and rehabilitation engineering. Offered occasionally.

Also of possible interest under imaging & signal processing:

BIEN 182. Medical Imaging Physics ( 3).  Students will learn how light x-rays, radiopharmaceuticals, ultrasound, magnetic fields, and other energy probes are generated and how they interact with tissues and detectors to produce useful image contrast. Practical tissues such as beam generation, dose limitations, patient motion, spatial resolution and dynamic range limitations, and cost-effectiveness will be addressed. Emphasis will be placed upon diagnostic radiological imaging physics, including the planar x-ray, digital subtraction angiography, mammography, computed tomography, nuclear medicine, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging modalities.

BIEN 240. Biomedical Instrumentation ( 3).  Relationships between instruments for physiologic measurement and monitoring with living systems are explored. Physiologic signals, noise, and available sensors and transducers and their characteristics are discussed from time and frequency domain points of view. Systems topics include various new and conventional medical instrumentation. Other topics include clinical and new clinical laboratory instrumentation, instrumentation for research, artificial organs and prostheses. The course includes the use of scientific literature, literature searches, design projects, computer projects. Offered alternate years.

BIEN 251. Advanced Biomedical Signal Processing (3).  This course will cover modern methods of Signal Processing encountered in the biomedical field including parametric modeling, modern spectral estimation, multivariate analysis, adaptive signal processing, decimation/interpolation, and two-dimensional signal analysis. There will be several computer projects which apply these modern techniques to physiologic data. Offered occasionally.

BIEN 252. Multidimensional Biomedical Time Series Analysis ( 3).  Theory and implementation of methods used to collect, model and analyze multidimensional time series encountered in biomedical applications such as functional imaging, electrophysiologic mapping and the study of physiologic control systems.

BIEN 187. Biomedical Instrumentation Design ( 3).  Problems in instrumentation relating to physiological measurements in the laboratory and clinic. Electronic devices for stimulus as well as measurement of physiological quantities. Design of actual instruments. Features include mechanical design, accessory design and safety requirements.

BIEN 241. Microprocessor Based Biomedical Instrumentation (3). This course will discuss the application of microprocessors, microcontrollers, and digital signal processors to biomedical instrumentation. This course is designed to complement BIEN 240, which covers transducers, sensors, analog signal conditioning, and analog to digital conversion. The emphasis will be on evaluating the memory, power, resolution, cost, and computational requirements of a particular application, and then selecting a type (microprocessor, microcontroller, or digital signal processor) and particular model of processor to satisfy the system requirements. The students will design at least two complete processor based systems. Offered occasionally.

BIEN 242. Radio Frequency Applications in Biomedical Engineering (3)
Radio frequency design and applications for biomedical engineering and medicine. Circuit elements, equivalent circuits, impedance transformations, Smith Chart, two ports, scattering parameters, amplifiers, resonant circuits, mixers, receivers. Applications include telemetry, transcutaneous power transfer, hyperthermia, rf ablation, magnetic resonance imaging. PSPICE and LIBRA are introduced as analysis and design tools. Guest speakers. Written and oral design reports. Offered occasionally.

BIEN 265. Mathematics of Medical Imaging (3). This course will begin with an overview of the application of linear systems theory to radiographic imaging (pinhole imaging, transmission and emission tomography), and will cover the mathematics of computed tomography including the analytic theory of reconstructing from projections and extensions to emission computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Topics may also include three-dimensional imaging, noise analysis and image quality, and optimization. This course will have an advanced mathematical content.

Biology, Anatomy, Physiology, Allied Health:

BIEN 180. Systems Physiology (3).  Analysis of the underlying physiologic and bioengineering aspects of the human from an engineer’s point of view. Classic physiologic approaches used to introduce topics including cell functions, nervous system, nerve, muscle, heart, circulation, respiratory system, kidney, reproduction and biomechanics. Design problems including models of cell-organ-system function and problems in biomechanics illuminate topics covered. Computer techniques and relevant instrumentation are incorporated. Experts on related topics are invited to speak as they are available.

BIEN 300. Human Physiology (8). Human physiology describes the normal function of cells and organs systems, laying a foundation for understanding the altered physiologic states of specific disease entities and human organism. Computer-simulated laboratory experiences, animal labs and discussion groups reinforce concepts. Offered at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

BIEN 398. Functional Anatomy (8, at MCW) or BISC 135. Human Anatomy (4, at MU).

BIEN 205 Cell & Molecular Bioengineering (3).

BIOL 271 Muscle Biology (3).BIOL 279 Cell Neurophysiology (3).

Also of Interest:

• BISC 414. Advanced General Pathology (4).
• BISC 421. Biochemistry (4).
• PHTH 468. Neurological Rehabilitation (4).
• PHTH 482. Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation (3).
• PHTH 432, 452.  Orthopedics I & II.  (2, 4).
• PHPH 425, 445. Kinesiology I & II (3, 3).
• BIOL 210. Metabolism and Bioenergetics (4).
• BIOL 254. Regulation of Cell Function (3).
• BIOL 277 Adv Exercise Physiology (3).

Others:

BIEN 289. Topics in Biomedical Engineering ( 3).  Subject matter variable as determined by needs of biomedical graduate students. Students may enroll in the course more than once as the subject matter changes. Possible topics: biostatics, experimental methods, neuro-anatomy, etc. Offered occasionally.

BIEN 297. Department Seminar (3).  Scholarly presentations on current topics in Biomedical Engineering and related areas by visiting professors, resident faculty and graduate students.