SYSC5300 / ELG6130 :  HEALTH CARE ENGINEERING

Winter Term: Monday and Wednesday: 11:30-13:00
Location: TBD
Instructor:  M. Frize, P. Eng.
                     Email: mfrize@connect.carleton.ca;    Email: frize@site.uottawa.ca
                 
This course presents an overview of health care facilities, sensor technologies used in patient care, management of technology, medical device reliability, safety considerations, medical ethics, and  telemedicine. These topics provide a good background for students interested in biomedical engineering, or medical informatics, or for students wishing to work in industry related to biomedical instrumentation design or research.  The course can be of interest to students in electrical, electronics, systems and computer engineering, SITE, computer science, mathematics and statistics, biophysics, kinesiology, mechanical engineering, and some students in other faculties interested in instrumentation related to health care.

Calendar Description: Overview of the Canadian health care system and its main participants;
biophysical measurements providing a diagnosis or monitoring; biomedical sensors and sensor technology; telemedicine and its various applications; the management of medical technologies and various models of development and funding of clinical engineering departments in today=s health care facility; considerations for developing countries; reliability and safety of medical devices.

Precludes  additional credit for ELG  5123 (COMP 5206)

Pre-Requisites: Permission from the instructor.  

Week by week schedule:

Week 1:    Course outline. Definition of clinical engineering (role, function, etc..)

	   The Canadian health care system. 

Week 2: Technology management in industrialised countries; funding models. 
                         
Week 3:  Overview of medical sensor technologies and measurements; assignment # 1: sensor                      technologies.

Week 4:   Safety considerations: electrical, EMI;  assignment # 2: EMI and medical                                      devices

Week 5    Class discussion of assignment # 1.

Week 6:   Infection control; challenges in critical care; visit to CHEO NICU

Week 7 : Technology assessment methodology; discussion of examples.  

Week 8    Reading week

Week 9    Class discussion of assignment 2;

                Overview of Telemedicine; Assignment # 3: Telemedicine applications

Week 10      Risk reporting and liability questions. Continuous quality assurance issues; concepts related to reliability of 		medical devices;
 
Week 11      Class discussion of assignment 3;
	    Research and medical ethics;  assignment # 4: moral dilemmas and ethical considerations                     in 		medical research

Week 12    Clinical Engineering in developing countries 
	    Class presentations of assignment 4.
Week 13:    The evolution of clinical engineering; medical devices industry.
	     Presentations of term projects (7-8 minutes each)
	    Presentations of term projects

Written projects due 10 days after presentations.

Scheduled exam.   

Course Assessment and Requirements

Graduate Students: There will be three assignments and one term project. All students must be prepared to describe their findings briefly during a class discussion on the topic of the assignment (by the date on which this is scheduled) and submit the assignment in writing one week later. The term project will be presented in class at the end of the term and submitted in writing one week later. A final exam will be given at an appropriately scheduled time. Each assignment counts for 10 percent of the final mark and verbal presentations of assignments will count for 10 marks in total for the four presentations; the verbal presentation of the term project will be 10 percent and the written part will count for 15 percent. The exam will count for 25 percent of the total mark. Note: Assignments are expected to be approximately 3 pages with 1.5 or double spacing; the project is expected to be around 10-15 pages.