Postgraduate Course: BioSensors and Instrumentation (PGEE11040)
Course Outline
| School | School of Engineering |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Postgrad (School of Engineering) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The Biosensors and Instrumentation module examines the methods used to interface sensors for biological and biomedical applications with electronics. One focus will be on transducers, meaning devices which convert information from one form of energy to another. In this case the final form for the information will be an electrical signal but the transducers themselves could be optical, mechanical, etc., and operate in a number of different ways (eg., capacitive, potentiometric, photonic). The objective is to build upon the knowledge the students will have gained in the first semester courses on biosensors and bioelectronics but with more of an electronics and electrical engineering focus. This course will also go beyond sensing to look at methods of actuation for closed loop ¿smart¿ systems. Examples from the state of the art in biosensor research will be provided and a number of guest lectures from active researchers in this field will provide context. Students will undertake a ¿horizon scanning¿ research exercise to investigate the industrial and research potential of a specific type of biosensor. This will be assessed by both formal reports and a presentation given to and marked by the whole class. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 2, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
13/01/2014 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 11,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 9,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
78 )
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| Additional Notes |
|
| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours:Minutes |
|
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | | |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course students will:
¿ Understand the concept of transduction and methods of extracting information from biosensors
¿ Be able to analyse sensor outputs through the use of signal processing and analogue circuit concepts
¿ Gain knowledge in the state of the art of biological and medical sensors both in research and commercial products
¿ Be familiar with a wide range of sensors and instrumentation from electrochemical to optical
¿ Understand typical electronic instrumentation for biosensors and important concepts such as calibration and references
¿ Gain knowledge of actuators for biological and medical applications from drug delivery devices to microfluidic systems.
¿ Be familiar with concepts of control systems combining sensing and actuation.
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Assessment Information
| Essay and Exam |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
There are two lectures and one tutorial each week. The main body of the course will run from weeks 1-10 with the lecture slots taken up with coursework presentations in week 11. 2-3 guest lectures are planned during the semester with timings to be determined. These will cover active research in the field of biosensing and in previous years have looked at: ¿cantilever based biosensors¿, ¿advanced photodetector arrays¿ and ¿electrical cell impedance sensing¿.
Lectures:
The following subjects will be covered during the course, Most of these will take more than one lecture slot:
L1. Transducer Basics: Sensors and Actuators
L2. Sensor Amplification: Op-amps, basic circuits
L3. Instrumentation for Electrochemistry: Potentiostats, impedance measurements, bridge circuits
L4. Temperature measurements
L5. Mechanical sensor instrumentation: Strain gauges, piezoelectric sensors and actuators, capacitive sensor interfaces
L6. FET based sensors: MOSFET revision, FET based biosensors, nano-wire sensors.
L7. Overview of optical biosensors: Fibre-optic sensors, fluorescence
L8. Neural sensors and actuators: Microelectrode arrays, neural implants
L9. Implantable medical devices: Biofouling, materials and regulation
L10. Wireless sensor interfaces: Sensor networks and wireless power
Tutorials
These will cover similar material to the lectures.
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
¿Instrumental Methods in Electrochemistry¿, Southampton Electrochemistry Group, Ellis Horwood or Halsted Press.
¿Medical Instrumentation: Application and Design¿, John G. Webster, Wiley, (4th Edition)
¿Ultra Low Power Capacitive Sensor Interfaces¿; W. Bracke, R. Puers & C. Van Hoof; Springer.
¿Biomedical Instruments - Theory and Design¿; W. Welkowitz, S. Deutsch, M. Akay; Academic Press Inc.
¿Ultra Low Power Bioelectronics¿; R. Sarpeshkar; Cambridge University Press.
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Biosensors, transducers, instrumentation, integration, Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Stewart Smith
Tel: (0131 6)50 5607
Email: Stewart.Smith@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Sharon Potter
Tel: (0131 6)51 7079
Email: Sharon.Potter@ed.ac.uk |
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