A hands-on Bioelectric Potentials course for Electrical Engineering majors

Abstract

We describe a new course in Bioelectric Potentials, offered to seniors in a 4-year Electrical Engineering program, that integrates bioelectric mechanisms, numerical methods and simulation, hardware design, and technical writing. The course focused on mechanisms governing the generation of bioelectrical signals together with measurement and analysis techniques in muscle and nerve electrophysiology. Topics covered included the Nernst potential; development of action potentials; impulse propagation and nerve conduction; membrane biophysics; excitation-contraction coupling; and the development and management of cardiac arrhythmias. The course incorporated quantitative modeling and simulation learning exercises for data analysis and outcome prediction. Students were exposed to numerical methods for curve fitting, integration, differentiation, and solving ordinary differential equations. The course also incorporated hands-on activities including the building of an ECG amplifier and QRS detector circuit, and the measurement of their own EMG, ECG, and EEG signals using the ADInstruments PTB 32 Teaching System. Technical communication skills, both oral and written, were reinforced through three project reports and in-class presentations of pertinent journal articles. Assessment of student learning and achievement of course objectives will be presented.