Previously offered: Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, and Fall 2023
Description: Bioinstrumentation is a discipline in which devices are designed and implemented for measurement of
biological and medical signals. In this course, we will examine the fundamental concepts of signal measurement
and processing and discuss the technologies that convert specific biologic and medical signals into meaningful quantities.
The process of instrument prototyping will be introduced through lab sessions. Students will use LabVIEW (National Instrument)
as a platform to learn data acquisition and signal processing and to build front-end circuits for prototyping instruments
using the virtual instrumentation approach.
Previously offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, and Spring 2023
Description: Medical Imaging is the technology invented to create visual representations of the interior of a
body. Since the discovery of x-ray in 1895, Medical Imaging has become one of most exciting research and application areas
that attract scholars from many disciplines, such as Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, and Medicine. Nowadays, we can not
only see bone fractures (Radiography) but also locate molecules inside our bodies (PET), and map brain activities in response
to audio and visual information (fMRI). In medicine, Medical Imaging routinely provides the structural and functional
information of the subsurface tissue of patients so that clinicians can make decisions on the treatment plan. This course
will introduce the major imaging modalities in Medical Imaging. Focusing on principles, we will learn physics that governs
each imaging modality, instrumentation that acquires signals, theory and engineering that forms images, and, last but least,
some basic information that medical imaging machines can provide in medicine. Engineering approaches will be emphasized;
computer software will be used to aid the learning process.
BIOE 4910(H) − Bioengineering Research and Clinical Summer Immersion at Charleston (BEACH Program)
3 credits/summer session
Instructors: Drs. Tong Ye (Course Director), Ann Foley, and Yongren Wu
Previously offered: Summer of 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023
Description: Founded in 2018, this summer program targets students who are committed to advancing their
engineering expertise in graduate school or a health profession after graduation. Hosted by the Clemson-MUSC Bioengineering
Program, through hands-on work in research labs and shadowing experiences in clinics at MUSC in Charleston, students will
develop a first-hand perspective about the skills necessary to succeed in graduate or health professional schools.
The program will be held over 12 weeks (Summer I and Summer II per Clemson Academic Calendar). For each summer session,
students spend at least 15 hours/week in research labs and clinics. On Friday mornings, all participants will meet in the
classroom for seminars given by Clemson or MUSC faculty; postdoctoral scientists; PhD and medical students; and discussions
led by an instructor. Research projects will typically focus on but not limited to the following topics: orthopedics,
biomaterials, bioimaging, and stem cell-based tissue engineering. Please visit the BEACH program page for more information.
BIOE 8500-003/843 − Selective Topics in Advanced Biomedical Optics
3 credits
Instructors: Drs. Bruce Gao and Tong Ye
Previously offered: Fall 2019
Description: Optical Microscopy have become an indispensable tool in biomedical research. The course
will focus on the physics and mathematics of light propagation and detection. Light-tissue interaction will be also
formulated mathematically. Through the course work, a solid theoretical foundation of biomedical optics will be laid
out for students who want to develop novel optical imaging methods in biomedical research. The format of the class will
be either lectures given by instructors or in-class discussion led by students.
BIOE 8500-402 − Selective Topics in Molecular and Functional Bioimaging
3 credits
Instructors: Tong Ye, PhD
Previously offered: Fall 2015
Description: : “Imaging specific molecules and their interactions in space and time will be essential to
understand how genomes create cells, how cells constitute organisms and how errant cells cause disease.”(Roger Tsien,
Imagining imaging's future. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 4: SS16-SS21, 2003) In this course we focus on principles
and applications of microscopic imaging modalities that can provide molecular contrasts in studying biological structures and
functions. The course activities include lectures, in-class discussion, and tour of imaging facilities.
