Biomedical Engineering Students Experience Major Medical Devices First-hand

In the course, ENGR 341L Medical Device Laboratory, Biomedical Engineering students (BME) conduct pacemaker and patient monitoring experiments on the Lake Shore campus and imaging experiments with Computerized Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at the Stritch School of Medicine. In Spring 2018, Dr. John Roeske, Professor and Section Chief, Medical Physics, and Dr. Rakesh Patel, Assistant Professor and Medical Physicist, introduced BME students to a linear accelerator (used to radiate cancer tumors) currently being installed at Loyola Medical Center. After phantom images (test images used to calibrate the device) were acquired from the CT, Dr. Roeske instructed students how to analyze these images. In a separate lab experiment, Dr. Steven Shea, Assistant Professor and MRI Physicist, installed a calibration MRI phantom in the MRI, as students watched from the safety-zoned control room. Dr. Shea then assisted the students in acquiring and analyzing phantom images.

This solid hands-on experience introduced Engineering students to clinical procedures and exposed them to imaging software, a first step towards designing medical device software during senior year.