Instrumentation and Multimodality Imaging

Instrumentation and multimodality imaging (257 - 15561)
Study: Bachelor in Biomedical Engineering
Semester 2/Spring Semester
4th Year Course/Upper Division

Students are Expected to have completed:

Physics, Electronics, Instrumentation and Control and Image processing and reconstruction

Compentences and Skills that will be Acquired and Learning Results:

The goal of this course is to provide the students with a comprehensive understanding of medical imaging technology for the different modalities, understanding the essential physics and electronics involved. The clinical applications for every modality will also be covered, including the new hybrid devices that combine the advantages of several techniques.

After the completion of this course the student should be able to understand the processes involved in the image acquisition for every modality, including how every aspect of the acquisition process can influence the final image quality. These concepts will be always learned linked to the clinical applications of every modality, so the student will be capable of understanding the areas in which every technique solves specific clinical needs.

Description of Contents: Course Description

1. Interaction of radiation and matter.
2. X-ray production: tubes and generators.
3. Radiography detectors.
4. Tomosynthesis, Digital Substraction Angiography, Dual Energy.
5. Computed Tomography.
6. Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Physical principles.
7. Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Sequences and instrumentation.
8. Ultrasound: Physical principles, transducers, types of studies.
9. Nuclear Medicine: Radioactivity and Radionuclide production.
10. Nuclear Medicine: Radiation detection and Measurement.
11. Nuclear Medicine: SPECT and PET.
12. Radiation Protection: Dosimetry and Biology.
13. Hybrid systems: PET/CT and PET/MR.
14. Image Fusion.

Learning Activities and Methodologies:

Teaching methodology will be mainly based on lectures, seminars and practical sessions.
Students are required to read assigned documentation before lectures and seminars. Lectures will be used by the teachers to stress and clarify some difficult or interesting points from the corresponding lesson, previously prepared by the student. Seminars will be mainly dedicated to interactive discussion with the students and short-exams will be passed during the sessions.
Grading will be based on continuous evaluation (including short-exams, practical sessions, and student participation in class and Aula Global) and a final exam covering the whole subject. Help sessions and tutorial classes will be held prior to the final exam.

Attendance to lectures, short-exams or submission of possible homework is not compulsory. However, failure to attend any exam or submit the exercises before the deadline will result in a mark of 0 in the corresponding continuous evaluation block.

The practical sessions may consist on laboratory work or visits to research or clinical centers. A laboratory report will be required for each of them. The attendance to practical sessions is mandatory. Failure to hand in the laboratory reports on time or unjustified lack of attendance will result in 0 marking for that continuous evaluation block.

Assessment System:

Continuous evaluation
It accounts for up to 50% of the final score of the subject, and includes three components:
1) Short-exams and homework (60% of the continuous evaluation mark): The short exams will take place mostly during seminars, and will be announced at least one week in advance.
2) Practical sessions (30% of the continuous evaluation mark): They will be assessed through a laboratory notebook, laboratory reports and/or questionnaires that will be handed in at the end of each practical session. Attendance to at least 80% of the practical sessions is mandatory; otherwise the score will be 0 in this item.
3) Student participation (10% of the continuous evaluation mark): It includes contribution to seminars, forum in Aula Global, attitude, homework (quizzes or exercises to be solved in groups or individually), or other activities.

Final exam
The final exam will cover the whole subject and will account 50 % of the final score. The minimum score in the final exam to pass the subject is 4.0 over 10, notwithstanding the mark obtained in continuous evaluation.

Extraordinary exams
The mark for students attending any extraordinary examination will be the maximum between:
a) 100% extraordinary exam mark, or
b) 50% extraordinary exam mark and 50% continuous evaluation if it is available in the same course.

Academic conduct
All exams will be closed-book, closed-notes, no PC or mobile phone, or anything else other than a writing implement and the exam itself. Plagiarism, cheating or other acts of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Any infractions whatsoever will result in a failing grade.

Basic Bibliography:

Jerry L. Prince, Jonathan Links. Medical Imaging Signals and Systems. Prentice Hall. 2014
Jirí Jan. . Medical Image Processing, Reconstruction and Restoration. CRC Press. November 2, 2005
Paul Suetens. Fundamentals of Medical Imaging. Cambridge University Press. 2009

Additional Bibliography:

Euclid Seeram. Digital Radiography: An Introduction for Technologists. Cengage Learning. 2011
Frederick W. Kremkau. Sonography Principles and Instruments. Saunders. 2010
Jerrold T. Bushberg, J.Anthony Seibert, Edwin M. Leidholdt y John M. Boone. The Essential Physics of Medical Imaging. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. 2011
Richard R. Carlton, Arlene McKenna Adler. Principles of Radiographic Imaging: An Art and A Science. Cengage Learning. 2013
Robert Gill. The Physics and Technology of Diagnostic Ultrasound. High Frequency Publishing. 2012
Sidney K. Edelman. Understanding Ultrasound Physics 4th Edition. E.S.P. Ultrasound. 2012
Willi A. Kalender. Computed Tomography. Fundamentals, System Technology, Image Quality, Applications. Publicis, 3rd edition. 2011