Biomedical Engineering Systems

This subject is designed to enable students to apply the fundamental principles of material sciences to biomedical applications. It will introduce different materials (polymers, metals, ceramics and composites) and their behaviours in contact with biological environments. In addition, students will learn about the properties of biological materials like bone, muscles, skin and vasculature.

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Biosystems Design is the capstone experience for the Bioengineering Systems major, bringing together learning, skills, and biosystems knowledge from across the degree and apply it in a team-based design project. Students work collaboratively and independently from concept development to prototype implementation, engaging with real-world, complex, and open-ended projects that reflect professional health and medical technology contexts.

Project work is scaffolded by structured activities that reinforce foundational knowledge and highlight applications of biosensors, transducers, and signal processing. These activities support students in navigating the ethical, safety, and risk management considerations inherent in the development of medical devices.

As the capstone experience, student independence in all aspects of the design process is emphasised. This includes taking responsibility for project direction, time management, decision-making, problem-solving, and communication while working within diverse teams. Working through uncertain and evolving design scenarios fosters resilience, reflective practice, and a deeper understanding of interdisciplinary collaboration.

The capstone experience emphasises critical inquiry, design practice, consistency, and creativity. Students are encouraged to question assumptions, explore alternative approaches, and evaluate the broader impact of their work. The capstone project culminates in the dissemination of project outcomes, providing a platform to demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and professional identity developed throughout the degree.

Please view this video for further information: Biosystems Design

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Mechanical forces play a critical role in the healthy function of the human body, from movement during walking to beating of the heart. Mechanical forces also affect the properties and function of engineered tissues and influence the migration and spread of cancer cells through the body. This subject introduces students to fundamental principles in mechanics including analysis of bioengineering systems under static equilibrium conditions, analysis of forces during dynamic motion, mechanical behaviour and strength of biomaterials. Topics covered in this subject will include: Newtons’ laws of motion; stress and strain analysis in mechanical and biological systems subjected to different types of static loads; fundamentals of mechanical testing and failure analysis for biomaterials characterisation; fundamental physics underpinning motion of rigid bodies. Topics will draw on real-world bioengineering applications.

Please view this video for further information: Mechanics for Bioengineering

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AIMS

This subject covers fundamental principles of electronic circuits, including how to design and analyse simple circuits, with example applications to biomedical problems. Also covered is biosignal analysis, in which students are taught the fundamentals of signal processing, including how to build simple signal models of a biological system, and how to measure and analyse system performance.

In the laboratories, students will learn how to build and analyse simple electronic circuits, as well as how to simulate and measure biosignals. Students will learn about laboratory safety, team-work and measurement safety in an integrated way.

This subject is one of the subjects that define the Biomedical Engineering Systems Major in the Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Biomedicine, and it is a core requirement for the Master of Biomedical Engineering. It provides a foundation for various subsequent subjects, including BMEN90002 Neural Information Processing and BMEN90021 Medical Imaging.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

Topics include:

Basic principles of charge, current, Coulomb's law, electric fields and electrical energy, Kirchhoff's current law, Kirchhoff's voltage law, voltage and current division, node voltage analysis, mesh current analysis, Thévenin and Norton equivalent circuits, transient analysis of RC and RL circuits, steady-state analysis of RLC circuits, phasors and impedance, frequency domain models for signals and frequency response for systems, continuous-time and discrete-time Fourier transforms, frequency response, filtering, transfer functions, Z-transforms, Laplace transforms, poles and zeros and the relationship to state-space representations.

This material is complemented using software tools (e.g., MATLAB) for computation and simulation, and practical experience with circuits and systems in the laboratory.

Please view this video for further information: Circuits and Systems

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AIMS
The aim of this subject is twofold: firstly, to develop an understanding of the fundamental tools and concepts used in the analysis of signals and the analysis and design of linear time-invariant systems path in continuous–time and discrete-time; secondly, to develop an understanding of their application in a broad range of areas, including electrical networks, telecommunications, signal-processing and automatic control.
The subject formally introduces the fundamental mathematical techniques that underpin the analysis and design of electrical networks, telecommunication systems, signal-processing systems and automatic control systems. Such systems lie at the heart of the electrical engineering technologies that underpin modern society. This subject is one of four Level 3 subjects that define the Electrical Engineering Systems Major in the Bachelor of Science. . It provides the foundation for various subsequent subjects, including ELEN90057 Communication Systems, ELEN90058 Signal Processing and ELEN90055 Control Systems.

INDICATIVE CONTENT
Topics include:
Signals – continuously and discretely indexed signals, important signal types, frequency-domain analysis (Fourier, Laplace and Z transforms), nonlinear transformations and harmonics, sampling;
Systems – viewing differential / difference equations as systems that process signals, the notions of input, output and internal signals, block diagrams (series, parallel and feedback connections), properties of input-output models (causality, delay, stability, gain, shift-invariance, linearity), transient and steady state behaviour;
Linear time-invariant systems – continuous and discrete impulse response; convolution operation, transfer functions and frequency response, time-domain interpretation of stable and unstable poles and zeros, state-space models (construction from high-order ODEs, canonical forms, state transformations and stability), and the discretisation of models for systems of continuously indexed signals.
This material is complemented by exposure to the use of MATLAB for computation and simulation and examples from diverse areas including electrical engineering, biology, population dynamics and economics.

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This subject introduces important mathematical methods required in engineering such as manipulating vector differential operators, computing multiple integrals and using integral theorems. A range of ordinary and partial differential equations are solved by a variety of methods and their solution behaviour is interpreted. The subject also introduces series including the concepts of convergence and divergence.

Topics include: Vector calculus, including Gauss’ and Stokes’ Theorems; systems of homogeneous ordinary differential equations, including phase plane and linearisation for nonlinear systems; Laplace transforms; series, including Taylor series and power series; Fourier series and Fourier integrals; second order partial differential equations and separation of variables.

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This subject studies the fundamental concepts of functions of several variables and vector calculus. It develops the manipulation of partial derivatives and vector differential operators. The gradient vector is used to obtain constrained extrema of functions of several variables. Line, surface and volume integrals are evaluated and related by various integral theorems. Vector differential operators are also studied using curvilinear coordinates.

Functions of several variables topics include limits, continuity, differentiability, the chain rule, Jacobian, Taylor polynomials and Lagrange multipliers. Vector calculus topics include vector fields, flow lines, curvature, torsion, gradient, divergence, curl and Laplacian. Integrals over paths and surfaces topics include line, surface and volume integrals; change of variables; applications including averages, moments of inertia, centre of mass; Green's theorem, Divergence theorem in the plane, Gauss' divergence theorem, Stokes' theorem; and curvilinear coordinates.

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Differential equations arise as common models in the physical, mathematical, biological and engineering sciences. This subject covers linear differential equations, both ordinary and partial, using concepts from linear algebra to understand the structure of the general solutions. It balances basic theory with concrete applications. Topics include:
- linear ordinary differential equations and initial-value problems, including systems of first-order linear ordinary differential equations;
- Taylor series solutions of linear ordinary differential equations;
- Laplace transform methods for solving dynamical models with discontinuous inputs;
- boundary-value problems for linear ordinary differential equations and their interpretation in terms of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions;
- Fourier series solutions of certain linear partial differential equations on spatially bounded domains using separation of variables and eigenfunction expansion;
- Fourier transform solutions of certain linear partial differential equations on unbounded spatial domains.

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