Academic Degree and Certification Programs

The School supports academic programs in three areas: biomedical engineering, biomedical science, and health systems. While these areas are different in their applications and clientele, there are certain common themes which run through all three programs. These themes are based upon our best estimates about future developments in science, engineering, and health care. While it is always somewhat risky to predict the future, certain trends appear to be inevitable:

• While the 20th century was the Age of Electronics and Computers, the 21st will be the Age of Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology. The integration of engineered and living systems will become a critical part of human performance, well-being, and health care in the next century;
  

• The management and flow of information will become even more critical in the 21st century than it is today;
  

• The pace of change in social systems, business, research, and education will continue to be rapid. This favors individuals able to think quickly and independently and who can adapt swiftly to new situations and opportunities. Thus, the individual with multidisciplinary training will have the edge over the long term.
  

Those three main themes:

• The integration of technology with living systems
• The management of biomedical information
• Multidisciplinary education and training form the core of all our programs
  

Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical engineering is concerned with the application of engineering and science methodologies to the analysis of biological and physiological problems, the delivery of health care, and/or industrial applications. The biomedical engineer requires the analytical tools and broad physical knowledge of modern engineering and science, fundamental understanding of the biological or physiological systems, and familiarity with recent technological breakthroughs. The biomedical engineer serves as an interface between traditional engineering disciplines and living systems and may work in either direction, applying the patterns of living organisms to engineering design or engineering new approaches or products to improve human health and productivity. On the one hand, the biomedical engineer may use his/her knowledge of physiological systems to reverse engineer nature, creating, for example, artificial tissues and neural networks. On the other hand, a biomedical engineer may use his/her knowledge of engineering to create new equipment or environments for maximizing human performance, accelerating wound healing, providing non-invasive diagnostic tools, product design, or numerous other applications. To educate the biomedical engineer profiled above, the academic programs of the School organize the biomedical engineering knowledge base in broad and overlapping domains. These are the:

• scientific foundations of enabling biomedicaltechnologies
• biomedical information processing
• biomedical integrative systems engineering

In our view, using a systems approach to biomedical engineering forces one to examine the evolution of any particular technology from the initial concept through product development and commercialization to social and environmental impact. This involves far more than simply understanding a particular clinical problem and then suggesting a solution: one must address the myriad of scientific, technological, clinical, industrial, economic and social facets of developing and implementing that solution. To create this multidisciplinary approach, we have adopted the Diamond Curriculum Template (see next page.) as a guide.

Graduate Program

The School currently offers a graduate program in Biomedical Engineering at the M.S. and the Ph.D. levels. Students entering the graduate program in biomedical engineering are typically individuals with undergraduate degrees in engineering, physical sciences, or mathematics. The core curriculum provides the necessary training in medical science, modeling and simulation, and biomedical engineering applications to allow students to apply their engineering skills and perspective to current problems in biology and medicine. Areas in which students may focus their advanced studies and research attention include biomechanics and biomaterials, biomedical imaging, signals and optics, biomedical ultrasound, chemical engineering in biomedicine, clinical and rehabilitative engineering, human factors and performance engineering, neuroengineering, and tissue engineering.

Undergraduate Program

An innovative undergraduate degree program in biomedical engineering will be offered in collaboration with the College of Engineering starting in Fall 1998. Following The Drexel Engineering Curriculum (tDEC) model, the program provides innovative experiences in hands-on experimentation, engineering design as well as opportunities for personal growth, and development of leadership and communication skills. Drexel's mandatory cooperative education alternates classroom study with periods of paid professional employment in order to prepare students to be 'workforce ready' and to adapt to rapid changes occurring in our society.

A major focus of the curriculum involves comparisons between the theory and practice of engineering design and the effects of natural selection and biological evolution in adaptive systems. This comparison naturally leads to the two main approaches used by biomedical engineers: utilizing biological systems to model new products or paradigms (i.e., neural networks in the design of artificial intelligence) and designing new structures to either replace or interface with physiological systems (prosthetic devices, the artificial retina, etc.). As such, the study of evolutionary theory is a requirement unique to Drexel's innovative approach to biomedical engineering. Other highlights of the new undergraduate curriculum include interdisciplinary 'case study' courses. These courses include:

• The Body Synthetic

  This course examines the design and implementation issues associated with replacing biological tissues, organs, or systems with prosthetic devices. Each class will examine a single type of replacement (artificial heart, synthetic skin, etc.) from statement of the problem to application of the prosthesis and quality control.

• The Living Engine

  This course examines the body as a metabolic device, investigating issues of heat and mass transfer, chemical efficiency, and adaptation to extreme environments.

Interdisciplinary courses include

• Engineering Biotechnology
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Evolutionary systems
• Complex Physiological Systems

Professional electives include:

• Biosensors
• Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering
• Biomedical Mechanics
• Chemical Engineering in Biomedicine
• Biosignals and Biosystems
• Biomedical Imaging
• Biomedical Informatics
• Computational Biomedicine

Pre-med, pre-dental and pre-vet options, minor/major and dual degrees with other engineering and science disciplines, accelerated BS/MS programs are available for qualified students.

For more information contact School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems at (215)895-2215 or biomed@drexel.edu.