Using Virtual Instrumentation to Develop a Modern Biomedical Engineering Laboratory

This paper describes the development of a variety of classical biomedical experiments, particularly for use in a teaching laboratory. Several lab projects are described covering topics from basic electrophysiology to cardiovascular hemodynamics. The common thread through all of these experiments is their PC-based nature, all of them being automated using LabVIEW (TM) or BioBench (TM) software from National Instruments. The exercises depicted are intended to introduce students to fundamental concepts of biomedical experimentation, from the instrumentation and data acquisition requirements to subsequent data analysis techniques. Each project has a basic analysis section that effectively demonstrates physiological properties pertinent to the respective studies as well as an advanced analysis section that explores potential research topics relevant to the experiments. The lab experiments are designed to interactively teach some of the fundamental theories associated with each field. This not only reinforces basic knowledge, but also trains students in the application of these theories to laboratory research.