Abstract
Medical Imaging Teaching Software and Dynamic Assessment Tracking System for Biomedical Engineering ProgramBiomedical engineering (BME) education has developed as an interdisciplinary engineeringtraining area in the last 30 years. As a key training component in Biomedical Engineeringprograms, medical imaging education involves different physics principles, mathematicalderivations, and engineering implementations for image generation, reconstruction, andinstrumentation. Medical imaging techniques become increasingly crucial not only for clinicalapplications but in research laboratory as well. Recognizing the broad impacts of medicalimaging education on BME students’ career opportunities, many institutions have establishedsuch a curriculum. However, owing to the complexity of medical imaging techniques, teachingefficiency is a major obstacle for delivering the knowledge to students.Supported by a series of NSF CCLI grants through stages of proof of concept, creation ofprototype and expansion of application, we have developed an Internet based, interactiveteaching system, entitled “Medical Imaging Teaching Software (MITS) and DynamicAssessment Tracking System (DATS)”. The MITS/DATS package provides background review,text description, figure illustration, interactive animation, dynamic simulation, and applicationdemonstration for teaching five commonly used medical imaging modalities (X-ray, CT, MRI,PET and Ultrasound). Our effort has been focused on the development of animations forphysics/chemistry principles and simulations for engineering implementations. Each imagingmodality is taught or learned through five to six modules (topics). Teaching or learning proceedson the module basis. The system is integrated by the open source MySQL database software thatmanages updating teaching materials and also tracks student’s learning gain through differentassessments (see Figure of next page). Instructor gets instant feedback on the topic deliveredthrough his/her lecture when students work on the system.We have applied this teaching/tracking system in small size classes on selected imagingmodalities in last few years. The assessment result (pre/post) shows impressive learning gains inthe applications (see Table of next page). The learning gains are especially significant in conceptunderstanding. Expansion development and application are currently conducted in threeinstitutions in this metropolitan area. We plan to complete all teaching modules and apply toother institutions for BME or other engineering students.The Figure below shows the configuration of MITS/DATS package. This system isusername/password protected and Internet accessible. The assessment of student performancecan be acquired by instructor through the online database.The following table shows results from one medical imaging class (Medical Imaging Systems)for students learning X-ray and computed tomography (CT). Students who enrolled the classwere senior undergraduates (60-70%) or graduate students. Students’ academic, and courserecords (mean±SD) of before (n=23, top row) and after (n=21, bottom row) are listed in tablebelow: GPA All Prob. Concept Prob. Projects 3.42±0.34 82±9% 76±5% 82±5% *1 *2 *3 *3 3.46±0.44 89±8% 91±6% 90±6%where problems (“Prob.” in the table) in the tests and exams were “standardized” questions.Assigned projects for X-ray and CT were the same for both years. Statistical comparison(ANOVA, Single factor) of students’ cumulative GPA shows no difference between two years(*1p≤0.7), indicating similar background for all before/after students. Statistical comparison ofstudents’ correct percent rate for all questions (“All Prob.”) shows no significant difference;however, the p-value (*2p≤0.1) implies a “trend” of increased understanding to all questions(conceptual and computational). Students’ understanding improved most in conceptual questions(“Concept Prob.”) and in their projects (*3p≤0.05).