EEE8116 : Bioelectronics (Inactive)
- Inactive for Year: 2025/26
- Module Leader(s): Professor Patrick Degenaar
- Owning School: Engineering
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
This course aims to develop a deep understanding of the principles of bioelectronics and their increasing importance to modern medical electronics. The course will cover two main domains :
(1) Human bioelectronics:
This part of the course aims to cover the electrochemical operation of cells and how that leads to electrical activity. How the cells transmit information and how they can be stimulated through electrical, chemical optical (and potentially magnetic, ultrasonic) mechanisms.
(2) Bioelectronic medical circuits and systems.
This part of the course aims to cover the key devices and circuits used in biomedical circuits and how they can be brought together into a functional medical system.
The course comprises of lectures which are augmented by lab practical’s and small group tutorials to reinforce student information. Throughout the course, in addition to the technical content, important issues such as ethics, risk analysis and diversity are discussed, as well as their importance in medical device design and regulation.
Outline Of Syllabus
1. Human bioelectronics:
Considers the key aspects of bioelectronics from a human and biological perspective. It includes Human bioelectronics and failure, electrochemistry of cellular bioelectronics, The action potential, inter-neuron transmission, optogenetics, and some basic neural coding. It will also provide some fundamentals of bio-signal sensing, electrical-neural stimulus, and optical communication with cells.
2. Bioelectronic medical circuits and systems.
Considers the implementation of bioelectronics into circuits and systems. It includes an overview of the definition of “bioelectronics”, then, devices, transistors to amplifiers, Core bioelectronic circuits, how to traverse the analog and digital domains, implantable communications, implant control methodologies, implant power management, and biocompatibility. It will also provide some examples of biomedical systems.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 14 | 2:00 | 28:00 | In class lectures |
| Structured Guided Learning | Lecture materials | 14 | 2:00 | 28:00 | Lecture note taking: Students review the lecture notes and take their own notes. |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 1:30 | 1:30 | Exam |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 22:30 | 22:30 | Preparation for the exam. |
| Structured Guided Learning | Academic skills activities | 2 | 2:00 | 4:00 | Homework study: Students are given self study tutorial questions to answer to coincide with lectures. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Practical | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | Practical Laboratory activities: 1x Laboratory learning activities to reinforce the theoretical content. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 2 | 2:00 | 4:00 | Small Group Tutorials: To go through course material in detail in the form of exam questions. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Drop-in/surgery | 3 | 1:00 | 3:00 | Open office period: To allow students to come and ask any questions they may have. |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 106:00 | 106:00 | General self-study and self-reading to review the module. |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Lectures:
This course will have 14 x 2 hours in-class interactive lectures to provide the core theoretical content.
Tutorials:
2x tutorials will be provided in exam format so that students can understand from an early point what the exam questions will look like. Students will be provided with exemplar answers post-tutorial. These will be performed in small groups with students split up into small groups of 3 or 4 students so that they can work as a team. Students will also be provided with 2x self study tutorials to support lecture review and self-learning.
Lab work:
The practical labs are is important to reinforce the understanding from the theoretical lectures and assess students’ ability to apply the knowledge they have received in real-world applications. As such, there will be a first3 hour lab exercise will be formative, and the second one will contribute to the final mark for the module. Each lab will be 3 hours long and assessed during the lab on the basis of how many of the goals have been achieved within the 3 hours.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Exams
| Description | Length | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written Examination | 120 | 2 | A | 75 | Closed-Book Exam |
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Practical/lab report | 2 | M | 25 | Lab test: Students will be given a series of biomedical circuit design objectives to attain within a 3 hour period. They will be assessed on how many circuits they correctly create within that period. |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The cohort who study the Bioelectronics module are primarily from the MSc Biomedical Engineering. These have a very varied background – some have studied electronics, some chemistry and some biology. As such, it is important to ensure there are exercises that give this broad spectrum of students an intuitive understanding of the course material.
Specific assessment rationale:
Exam:
Exams are an important method of determining student knowledge. The following AHEP4 categories will be assessed in the exam:
M1: Science, mathematics and engineering principles
M2: Problem analysis:
M6: Integrated/systems approach:
M13: Materials, equipment, technologies and processes:
Lab exercises:
The practical lab is important to reinforce the understanding from the theoretical lectures and and assess students’ ability to apply the knowledge they have received in real-world applications. As such, there will be a 3 hour lab exercise.As such, the following AHEP4 caterogires assessment by continuous assessment
M3: Analytical Tools and Techniques:
M12: Practical and workshop skills:
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- EEE8116's Timetable