Foundations of Biomedical Engineering

The body as an engineering system. What biomedical engineers do, human physiology in quantitative terms — heart, lungs, kidneys, nerves and homeostasis — and the bioelectricity that underlies every heartbeat and thought.

• Introduction to Biomedical Engineering — What biomedical engineers do and why the field matters. Learn the sub-disciplines (bioinstrumentation, biomechanics, biomaterials, medical imaging, tissue engineering, clinical engineering, rehabilitation, computational biology), how engineering problems differ when the 'system' is a human body, key physiological numbers (heart rate, cardiac output, blood pressure), units and scaling, ethics and regulation — with Python computing cardiac output and body-surface area.
• Human Physiology for Engineers — The body's systems through an engineer's eyes. Learn the cardiovascular system (heart as a pump, cardiac cycle, pressure–volume loop, Windkessel model), respiratory system (volumes, gas exchange, compliance), nervous and musculoskeletal systems, renal filtration, and homeostasis as feedback control — with a Python Windkessel model of arterial pressure.
• Bioelectricity: Membranes, Action Potentials & Nerves — The electrical basis of life. Learn ion concentrations and the cell membrane, the Nernst equation and equilibrium potentials, the Goldman–Hodgkin–Katz resting potential, the membrane as an RC circuit, action potentials and the Hodgkin–Huxley model, conduction velocity and myelination, the cardiac conduction system and how the ECG arises — with Python computing Nernst and GHK potentials.