The evolution of a bioinstrumentation course

This paper describes the evolution of the bioinstrumentation course at the University of Hartford. Initially developed to instruct the students about instrumentation and data acquisition, the course now contains 3 main sections, data acquisition, medical instrumentation, and research instrumentation. The course has been offered jointly to University of Hartford and Trinity College Bioengineering. The current course begins with units on Biostatistics, Error Analysis, Curve Fitting, and Data Reporting, followed by units on the fundamentals of data acquisition and laboratories using hardware and software from Dataq, Labjack and National Instruments (Labview). Clinical Medical Instruments are then discussed using the data acquisition techniques used to implement a Simple EKG and instrument a Pacemaker. Fundamentals of medical imaging, image reconstruction, and instrumentation found in a Biotechnology Instrumentation lab are discussed. The course concludes with a unit on Electrical Safety for Biomedical Devices. This paper also reports the alignment of this course with Bioengineering Program Objectives, the assessment of Program Outcomes, and discusses the students' reaction to the course during the past 5 years.