The main goal of the course is to train medical engineering students in working in groups and solving assigned practical problems and making sound quantitative or qualitative analysis in their field of study. This project course and the successive project courses give the students the possibility of applying the tools they are learning in the courses in Theory and Methodology of Science with Applications, and Statistics for Medical Engineering, Signal Processing and Data Analytics in Biomedical Engineering, and Simulation Methods in Medical Engineering. This course gives the students the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills to solving practical problems that are relevant to their field of study and to train their ability to plan, execute, document and communicate the results of their assigned projects. Further, the course aims at training our students in considering ethical aspects when exercising their profession.

After the course students will be able to:

·       Participate in an active way and carry out a smaller group project together with others and contribute to solving the assignment

·       Identify and apply relevant methods, models, and knowledge from the areas of medical, electrical, and software engineering to given problems

·       plan and with adequate methods undertake given tasks within predetermined time frames 

·       create, analyse and critically evaluate different technical solutions to a given problem,

·       identify and fill in any gap in their knowledge in order to carry on an assigned project

·       in English, in both speech and writing, report and discuss their results and the scientific grounds and arguments on which they are based

·       within the frame of the assigned project, assess and show awareness of ethical aspects on research and development work with respect to methods and results of the project.

This course adopts a practical, hands-on approach and will enhance all your engineering skills. This will be done by a series of laboratory exercises and a larger project.

• The labs are designed to develop the necessary engineering skills for successfully carrying out the later projects in PCC1, but also in the successive project-carrier courses in the programme. The labs are done either in pairs or individually. Some labs are examined through written reports and others through oral demonstration. Check the detailed plan for each of the labs.
• In period 2, a project will take place in groups of about 4 students. It will be examined through a written report, a poster, and demonstration. The teams and the assignment are given by us, and will be of a practical nature.

Lectures (tentative)

• L1 (Mon 26 Aug), Introduction, Martin
• L2 (Thu 29 Aug), Medical Instrumentation, Analog Electronics, etc, Martin
• L3 (Wed 18 Sep), Guest Lecture: Health Informatics, Cubist.eu
• L4 (Fri 4 Oct), Measurement, Accuracy, Statistics, Martin
• L5 (Wed 9 Oct), Project Planning and Group Dynamics, Martin
• L5 (Mon 28 Oct), Introduction Project, Martin

Labs

Many labs are done in pairs. You will be assigned a lab partner by us in Canvas. You will swap pair partner later.

Lab 0: Connect the PPG circuit on breadboard

Dates: Aug 27, 28, Sep 2

Work in pair 1

Task: Connect the PPG sensor, LED, and the analogue circuit on a breadboard. Verify the active amplifying band pass filter with calculations and simulation (Multisim Live).

Examination: Demonstrate the circuit to the teacher/assistant. Fill in the Canvas Quiz.

Lab 1: Programming of a wireless sensor.

Dates: Sep 3, 4

Work in pair 1

Task: The task is to make a complete system consisting of an analog medical sensor (from Lab 0), data acquisition, communications, and rudimentary data processing and presentation. You will borrow Micro:Bit hardware and some other hardware. We will start in the computer lab, but you can complete the work at a later time.

Examination: The lab is examined by handing in the solution and demo it to the teacher/assistant.

Lab 2: PCB-design

Dates: Sep 9

Individual work

Task: Use KiCAD to design a PCB for the given PPG circuit. This task can be carried out at home. On Sep 9, there is a booked time slot that can be used for assistance.

Examination: Hand in the final solution in Canvas.

Lab 3: Soldering exercise

Dates: no given dates

Individual work

Task: Solder all the components for the circuit design in lab 2. This can be done in the MakerSpace at your own pace. No time is booked for this exercise. Our MakerSpace manager Linus Remahl will be able to assist you if needed.

Examination: Demonstrate that the PCB works as expected for Linus or a teacher/assistant.

Lab 4: Make a signal generator

Dates: Sep 12, 13, 16, and 18

Work in pair 1

Task: Using a Micro:Bit, generate an electrical signal that mimics a real heart PPG signal. The user should easily be able to select the generated heart rate. This task involves both programming the Micro:bit and analog electronics. You need to make an analog low pass filter. The final solution should be soldered on a protoboard.

Examination: For a teacher, demonstrate on an oscilloscope that you can generate the signal.

Lab 5: Digital filter design

Dates: Sep 20

Individual work.

Task: Using online material and basic programming, do some exercises in digital filter design and implement them.

Examination: Fill in the lab report and upload to Canvas.

Lab 6: Implementation of a complete IoMT health application

Dates: Sep 25, Oct 1, 2, and 7

Work in pair 2

Task: Extend the solution of lab 1 to also send the filtered signal values to an EHR-system based on standard protocols (i.e., HL7 FHIR). Also create a web application front-end to the EHR-backend that visualizes the collected data. Show the curve data as well as the calculated heart rate variation (HRV). We will provide a HL7 FHIR database (based on hapifhir.io). You will need to extend some webpages with new JavaScript code to upload the data and to present the stored data for the doctor.

Examination: Demonstrate for a teacher at Oct 7, 8, or 10.

Lab 7: Basic measurements

Dates: no dates

Work in pair 2

Task: Evaluate the measurement accuracy of your lab 1 solution. Design a measurement study based on measurement theory and statistics. Carry out part of the measurements, compile, analyse, and make a written report.

Examination: Write a report with measurement accuracy results and hand-in in Canvas.

Project

In period 2, a project will take place in groups of about 4 students.

The project is around 7 credits in size and will be defined based on one of the flavours (biomechanics, imaging, health systems). The project goal will be given later, but will be of a practical nature, where the student groups are asked to make a real prototype solution for a problem. The solution needs to be evaluated as well, such as its measurement accuracy if relevant, etc.

Project start: October 28

Seminar 1: November 11

Seminar 2: December 3

Report Deadline 1: December 19

Presentation: January 7 (compulsory attendance for everyone)

Report deadline 2: January 13

Both the groups and the topics will be decided by the course responsible. Students choosing the same flavor will randomly be assigned a group. All groups with the same flavor will do the same project. Each project will have an external “customer”, which you can interact with for more clarity of the project goal.

The projects should be organized with agile/scrum project methods. We will provide a Taiga.io for this purpose. The teachers need to be able access this information.

The project is presented as a live demo (recorded video if live demo is not possible) and a printed poster. The poster must be submitted two days before the presentation day because of printing.

The seminars are used to present the current state of each project. And to discuss problems that you are facing. Informal oral presentations of the current status are expected from all groups at both seminars.

The project must also deliver a written report that describes the project’s aim, design, and results. In addition, relevant ethical and sustainability aspects must be included. There must be one section highlighting each student’s contribution to the report and project. The report should be written in the same style as a final thesis report. Hence, it is advised to use such a template and follow the same structure, unless you have good reasons not to. There is no page limit on the report, but it needs to contain the relevant parts and should avoid unnecessary repetition. Note that usually a long report is not better. A report should only contain relevant parts, avoid unnecessary repetition, and describe everything in a compact and concise fashion. Be sure to present a research question and everything in the report should address that question. Hence, no need to explain a lot of half-relevant stuff.

A tentative report that is 75% finished should be submitted by the report deadline 1. This version is distributed to other students in the course for written peer-review. Providing peer-review feedback is an individual task. Everyone will peer-review one other report.

Ethical seminar

Somewhere in november/december (exact date to be determined), we will hold a compulsory 2 hours seminar on ethical analysis of the projects. A few days before, each project needs to submit 1-2 pages discussing relevant ethical issues related to their project. At the seminar, we will mix students into cross-project groups. Each such group will discuss a single project and will use the submitted document as basis. The summary of the discussions should be written down into a minutes document (to be sent as feedback back to the project). Active participation from everyone is expected.

Individual assignment

At the end of the project, each student must submit a written self-reflection analysis that discusses the following points:

• What knowledge gap did you have before the projects? How did you fill them as part of the project?
• Was everyone equally involved in the projects?
• Did communication within the group work?
• What could you have done to make your groups work even better?
• and more.

Details are provided in KTH Canvas. Deadline individual self-reflection: January 13

This course has no recommended course literature. Students are expected to find and use relevant material in order to complete their tasks and projects. During the course, we will provide pointers to online material that will help the students in their work.

A standard laptop with Bluetooth is very helpful during this course.

Electronic components are provided by us or can be collected in MakerSpace. During the project, it might be necessary to order special hardware.

We will use free software when possible. The software should run on Windows, Mac, Linux, or online.

Examples of software used in the course are:

• KiCad IDA, https://www.kicad.org/
• Google Chrome (we use the WebBLE functionality not available in every browser)

Online software:

• Multisim Live, https://www.multisim.com/
• Jupyter Notebook
• HAPI FHIR, https://hapifhir.io/
• Taiga.io, https://www.taiga.io/

All online software will be made available by us.

Students at KTH with a permanent disability can get support during studies from Funka:

Funka - compensatory support for students with disabilities

A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

• LAB1 - Laboratory work, 7.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F
• PRO2 - Homework, 8.0 credits, Grading scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

To pass the course you have to comply with:

• LAB1 (grade P/F)
  • All labs (0-7)
• PRO2 (grade A-F)
  • The project
  • The seminars
  • The individual self-reflection report

Final grade is the same as the grade of PRO2.

To obtain grade E on the project PRO2, the student must be able to:

• fulfill all intended learning outcomes for the project.

To obtain grade C on the project PRO2, the student must also be able to:

• show skills in project planning, by submitting required material on time.
• create, analyse and critically evaluate several technical solutions to a given problem
• within the frame of the assigned project, assess and show awareness of several ethical aspects on research and development work with respect to methods and results of the project.
• produce a report that is well-written with a clear and specific research question.

To obtain grade A on the project PRO2, the student must also be able to:

• create, analyse and critically evaluate many relevant technical solutions to a given problem
• produce a report that is well-written, which clearly explains and motivates the research methodology, and very clearly communicates the main results.

Students that fulfill the criteria for grade E and nearly fulfill the criteria for grade C, may be awarded grade D. Students that fulfill the criteria for grade C and nearly fulfill the criteria for grade A, may be awarded grade B.

If a lab is not completed to satisfaction, a second opportunity is always offered.

If a lab cannot be completed before its deadline, a later opportunity is provided as long as the student has a chance to complete the full course. All activities must be completed during the course offering.

A student must be available and active in the project work when the project is ongoing (period 2). However, some absenteeism is allowed. If the absenteeism is too large, we have no possibility to offer the student any supplementary examination during this course offering. This applies to PRO2.

Intermediate results are reported in Canvas using the function 'Grades'. Final results are reported to Ladok. LAB1 will be reported to Ladok in the end of period 1 (or later if the student is not fully finished with all lab tasks). PRO2 will be reported to Ladok after the end of period 2.

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.

All hand-ins are scanned for plagiarism. All external sources must be referenced and properly indicated as someone else’s work. However, we encourage the use of others’ work when possible and applicable. You may include figures and graphs from other sources as long as this is clearly indicated in the reports with proper referencing.

In accordance with Handbok 444 Elinstallationsreglerna - SS 436 40 00, it is not allowed to work with voltages above 25 VAC or 60 VDC. For instance, you cannot work with 230 V connections, unless properly encapsulated by the manufacturer.

• We introduced an ethical analysis seminar and exercise.
• The individual self-reflection is now a KTH Canvas quiz.
• Project/report grading changed.