Translational Biomedical Engineering (Gr. Cert.) (15 credits)
Offered by: Biomedical Engineering (Faculty of Engineering)
Program credit weight: 15
Program Description
This program comprises mandatory courses dealing with topics that are unique to the translational process in the biomedical engineering environment. Topics covered will include: managing intellectual property; patents and the patenting process; regulatory affairs; medical standards; quality management systems; and clinical trials. Complementary courses will provide students with advanced training in a specialized area of biomedical engineering selected from the areas where Departmental staff have significant expertise.
In cases where students have taken one or more of the core courses as part of another program, these core courses will be replaced with the equivalent number of credits, at the 500 level or higher, by other appropriate courses selected in consultation with the program director.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (9 credits)
Three courses dealing with issues related specifically to the translation of biomedical engineering advances to clinical and commercial environments:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BMDE 653 | Patents in Biomedical Engineering. | 3 |
Patents in Biomedical Engineering. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This is a practical course on patents with emphasis on biomedical engineering applications. The course offers an overview of intellectual property, patents, and the patenting process. The course also provides insights into the strategies relating to commercialization and exploiting of patents, as well as enforcing patents. This course is designed to help biomedical engineers who will encounter patents in their work and needs to understand the nature and the scope of the patent system, how patents are obtained, and how to commercially exploit a patent. | ||
| BMDE 654 | Biomedical Regulatory Affairs - Medical Devices. | 3 |
Biomedical Regulatory Affairs - Medical Devices. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Regulatory strategies and quality management systems are critical for medical device development. This course provides an overview of regulatory requirements, and familiarize students with the important ISO and IEC standards pertaining to medical device development. This course will provide biomedical engineers with an understanding of the regulatory and quality requirements to translate a medical device idea into a commercial product, and will draw upon the expertise of invited speakers currently working in the medical devices industry. | ||
| BMDE 655 | Biomedical Clinical Trials - Medical Devices. | 3 |
Biomedical Clinical Trials - Medical Devices. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course will train biomedical engineers to understand the clinical and business aspects of transferring a medical device idea into a commercial product. This course provides an overview of the pre‐clinical and clinical testing of medical devices, clinical trials, reimbursement systems, market analysis, sales models, and business models, as pertaining to medical devices. This course will also cover the design of randomized trials, including statistical principles, hypothesis postulating, bias minimization, and randomization methods. | ||
Complementary Courses (6 credits)
Students must complete 6 credits of biomedical engineering course work selected from one or more of the following domains or other appropriate courses at the 500 level or higher approved by the Program Director:
General Biomedical Engineering
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BMDE 501 | Selected Topics in Biomedical Engineering. | 3 |
Selected Topics in Biomedical Engineering. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An overview of how techniques from engineering and the physical sciences are applied to the study of selected physiological systems and biological signals. Using specific biological examples, systems will be studied using: signal or finite-element analysis, system and identification, modelling and simulation, computer control of experiments and data acquisition. | ||
Biomedical Signals and Systems
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BMDE 502 | BME Modelling and Identification. | 3 |
BME Modelling and Identification. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Methodologies in systems or distributed multidimensional processes. System themes include parametric vs. non-parametric system representations; linear/non-linear; noise, transients and time variation; mapping from continuous to discrete models; and relevant identification approaches in continuous and discrete time formulations. | ||
| BMDE 503 | Biomedical Instrumentation. | 3 |
Biomedical Instrumentation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The principles and practice of making biological measurements in the laboratory, including theory of linear systems, data sampling, computer interfaces and electronic circuit design. | ||
| BMDE 512 | Finite-Element Modelling in Biomedical Engineering. | 3 |
Finite-Element Modelling in Biomedical Engineering. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. General principles of quantitative modelling; types of models; principles of the finite-element method, primarily as applied to mechanical systems; introduction to the use of finite-element software; model generation from imaging data; modelling various material types, mainly biological; model validation. | ||
| BMDE 519 | Biomedical Signals and Systems. | 3 |
Biomedical Signals and Systems. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to the theoretical framework, experimental techniques and analysis procedures available for the quantitative analysis of physiological systems and signals. Lectures plus laboratory work using the Biomedical Engineering computer system. Topics include: amplitude and frequency structure of signals, filtering, sampling, correlation functions, time and frequency-domain descriptions of systems. | ||
Medical Imaging
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIEN 530 | Imaging and Bioanalytical Instrumentation. | 3 |
Imaging and Bioanalytical Instrumentation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Microscopy techniques with application to biology and medicine. Practical introduction to optics and microscopy from the standpoint of biomedical research. Discussion of recent literature; hands-on experience. Topics include: optics, contrast techniques, advanced microscopy, and image analysis. | ||
| BMDE 610 | Functional Neuroimaging Fusion. | 3 |
Functional Neuroimaging Fusion. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Biomedical engineering: Multimodal data fusion of electrophysiology and functional neuroimaging data, including: detailed description of source localization methods for Electro- and MagnetoEncephaloGraphy data, analysis of brain hemodynamic activity through simultaneous recordings with electrophysiology, analysis and reconstruction of Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy data, modeling of the neurovascular coupling,validation methodology. | ||
| BMDE 650 | Advanced Medical Imaging. | 3 |
Advanced Medical Imaging. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Review of advanced techniques in medical imaging including: fast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI, MR angiography and quantitative flow measurement, spiral and dynamic x-ray computed tomography, 2D/3D positron emission tomography (PET), basic PET physiology, tracer kinetics, surgical planning and guidance, functional and anatomical brain mapping, 2D and 3D ultrasound imaging, and medical image processing. | ||
| MDPH 607 | Medical Imaging. | 3 |
Medical Imaging. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course is concerned with the principles of medical imaging as applied to conventional diagnostic radiography, X-ray computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The course emphasizes a linear system approach to the formation, processing, and display of medical images. | ||
Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIEN 510 | Engineered Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications. | 3 |
Engineered Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to the interdisciplinary field of biomedical uses of nanotechnology. Emphasis on emerging nanotechnologies and biomedical applications including nanomaterials, nanoengineering, nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems, nano-based imaging and diagnostic systems, nanotoxicology and immunology, and translating nanomedicine into clinical investigation. | ||
| BMDE 504 | Biomaterials and Bioperformance. | 3 |
Biomaterials and Bioperformance. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Biological and synthetic biomaterials, medical devices, and the issues related to their bioperformance. The physicochemical characteristics of biomaterials in relation to their biocompatibility and sterilization. | ||
| BMDE 505 | Cell and Tissue Engineering. | 3 |
Cell and Tissue Engineering. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Application of the principles of engineering, physical, and biological sciences to modify and create cells and tissues for therapeutic applications will be discussed, as well as the industrial perspective and related ethical issues. | ||
Biosensors and Devices
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIEN 550 | Biomolecular Devices. | 3 |
Biomolecular Devices. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Fundamentals of motor proteins in neuronal transport, force generation e.g. in muscles, cell motility and division. A survey of recent advances in using motor proteins to power nano fabricated devices. Principles of design and operation; hands-on-experience in building a simple device. | ||
| BIEN 560 | Design of Biosensors. | 3 |
Design of Biosensors. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction into the motivation of analytical biosensors as well as its fundamental physicochemical challenges. Techniques used to design, fabricate and operate biosensors. Specific applications. | ||
| BMDE 503 | Biomedical Instrumentation. | 3 |
Biomedical Instrumentation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The principles and practice of making biological measurements in the laboratory, including theory of linear systems, data sampling, computer interfaces and electronic circuit design. | ||
| BMDE 508 | Introduction to Micro and Nano-Bioengineering. | 3 |
Introduction to Micro and Nano-Bioengineering. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The micro and nanotechnologies that drive and support the miniaturization and parallelization of techniques for life sciences research, including different inventions, designs and engineering approaches that lead to new tools and methods for the life sciences - while transforming them - and help advance our knowledge of life. | ||
Translational Biomedical Engineering
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BMDE 656 | Medical Device Development Process. | 3 |
Medical Device Development Process. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Development of medical devices from concept to usage in humans. Overview of technical and regulatory processes to ensure safety and efficacy from the perspective of patients and users. Discussion of an existing medical device, reviewing all steps of the design process and the required documentation for regulatory submission. | ||