BME 3300: Biomedical Engineering Design

Y. Mendelson; G. Gaudette

Background Information

myWPI survey

Connect to myWPI (under Course Documents) to do the pre-research survey.

Off campus?

Off campus access to resources with proxy.

Medical Thermometers Beyond reading your class texts try...

The free web: search engines and other free web sites such as How Stuff Works
Grolier Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Americana, Britannica & specialized.

Information Choices: What Sources To Use

Use different types of information to get broad coverage of your topic.

Library Resources and Research Techniques (PDF) - chart on types of periodicals.

Review the 4 items below. What type of sources are the following?
Newspapers, popular magazines, scholarly research journals? ______________________________________________

Who's the intended audience for each?
______________________________________________

Temperature Takers in Baby Talk
High resolution temperature measurement Sensors, 2004. Proceedings of IEEE
Diagnostic accuracy of routine postoperative body temperature measurements in Clinical Infectious Diseases
Measurement, Instrumentation, and Sensors Handbook.

Books, Handbooks

Search the Library Catalog for items @ WPI or WorldCat to search beyond our library.

Browse through one or both of the first two HANDBOOKS, and write down 2 reasons why an engineer might consult a technical handbook/manual for information:
1. ___________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________

Evaluate...

Evaluating Web Resources Checklist (PDF)

According to a study at Stanford, nearly half of all web site evaluators (46.1%) used visual cues, to assess a site's credibility. Move beyond what a site looks like...

Sensor Land | Temperature of a Healthy Human | Accuracy of Parents in Measuring Body Temperature

Authority
Scope
Currency
Accuracy

The Biomedical Engineering Handbook [e-book]
Encyclopedia of Medical Devices and Instrumentation [e-book] or Reference R856 A3 E53 1988
Biomedical Technology and Devices Handbook [e-book] - Chapter 1 - Measuring Body Temperature
Medical Device Register. Reference Collection R856.48 M42
Design of Biomedical Devices and Systems. General Collection R857 M3 K54 2003
How Products are Made. Reference Collection TS146 H69
Standard Handbook of Biomedical Engineering and Design. Reference Collection R856.15 S73
Principles and Methods of Temperature Measurement. General Collection QC271 M384 1988 - There may be a book specifically on your design project too!

QuickFIND - Finding Articles & Books in One Search

Try QuickFIND multi-database search to retrieve results from 11 databases (including the library catalog & Worldcat for books) on your topic with one search. There are 3 ways to search:

Library homepage,
Databases by Subject categories such as Biomedical,
Advanced.

Find Articles about Your Topic

Most databases listed are WPI subscriptions. Also check out Google Scholar, a web search of scholarly sources, but be aware that if you are off campus you will still need to connect via WPI's proxy server. Many results link to subscribed resources.

Within PubMed and library database searches, look for FullTextFinder link for retrieval options.

Filter and Follow Up...

Scan results: use subject headings/descriptors, keywords, phrases found to expand search
Scrutinize article titles, number of pages, and journal title
Browse promising abstract and conclusion sections of long studies
Bibliographies can clue you in on the value of the article as well
Find an interesting author? Search for more articles or for his/her web site
Notice an agency, association or expert mentioned in an article? Follow up!

PubMed/MEDLINE: The U.S. National Library of Medicine database of articles and abstracts of biomedical journals for medical and health professionals. Use the online Tutorial to become a PubMed search pro. Use this address: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?otool=wpilib
Health Reference Center - Academic: Full text from professional medical as well as consumer periodicals, health newsletters, reference books, referral information, and topical overviews. Try also to search all Gale databases at once with PowerSearch.
Ei2 - CompendexWeb & INSPEC: Abstracts to engineering journals, reports, and conferences for professional engineers and scientists.
IEEE Xplore: Full text articles on all biomedical & electrical engineering topics. Content ranges from academic research journals to conference proceedings to IEEE standards.
Web of Science: Search abstracts of major scientific literature, most academic sources.
ScienceDirect: Full text access to academic science journals published by Elsevier.

Search one of the above databases for an article on the accuracy of body temperature measurement. What can this article tell you about designing a new product? List 1-2 issues or concerns medical professionals have about current practices. What method of measurement is found to be most accurate?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
What journal or magazine is this article from? Is it available in full text? Or just an abstract? If only an abstract is found, find the full text, using the library's Journals, Magazines, & Newspapers search.

Only Finding a Citation? Getting the Full Text

Is the journal online or here in the library? Find by journal title within our Journals, Magazines, & Newspapers search
Visit another library: Search WorldCat to find one
Request delivery from another library: Interlibrary Loan.

Give Credit! Cite Your Sources

Try RefWorks if you wish to create a personal database of your references which can be output into any citation style.

Patent Searching

United States Patents

Patents: United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) - Patent Search - try to combine Assignee search if you know name of company (Braun or Exergen) with product keywords

Search and review others patents to understand:

technical specifications/innovations
product designs
competitive differences/advantages
players (competitors; inventors)

Trouble viewing patent images? Download Alterniff viewer or type patent number into pat2pdf.org site to get a PDF version.

Search the USPTO patent database (www.uspto.gov/patft) for a thermometer patent by Exergen (as assignee):
Scan the results, list two types of thermometers that Exergen has patents for. What body part does patent number 6,292,685 scan for a body temperature? Review the drawings by clicking the IMAGES link.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
More time? Find a patent filing by Professor Mendelson as the inventor: ___________________________________________________________________

Worldwide Patents

Search ESP@CENET for worldwide patents, use Advanced Search to screen by date, assignee (organization/company), and title/abstract keywords. The library also maintains a listing of other patents search engines which may be useful. More ...

Standards and Regulations

Standards: web or article database searches may lead you to some of the standards (they may be mentioned within articles), such as temperatures.com Standards for Electronic Temperature Sensors. See our Finding Standards research guide for more on finding standards that apply to your product type. Don't have a clue about standards? Sign up for our Finding Standards seminar!
Regulations: Search also the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Device Listing database by using a keyword (oximeter) to find names of companies that have registered devices. They use a complex classification system, if you are having no luck with keywords, which may help. They have a standards search as well as a search of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (which includes some government regulations on medical devices).
Government Sources: GPO Access: search federal information from agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Competing Products and Opportunity Assessment

Companies: Search by company or product name to learn more about how their product is selling, are there recalls, problems or issues? Start with LexisNexis Academic or EBSCOhost Business Source Premier for company information.
Market: Search by industry or product keywords. Be creative with synonyms: (ear or digital or tympanic or electronic) and thermometers, product name to learn more about how specific products are selling. Any recalls, problems or issues? What do current consumers think about the product? What preferences are desired? Any surveys or product reviews?
Experts: track down trade associations, scholars/researchers and industry professionals. Check the Encyclopedia of Associations Reference Collection HS17 G334, or search the web: sensor association or temperature. The International Frequency Sensor Association for example.
Market Size and Trends: obtain statistical data from government sources such as Statistical Abstract of the United States (see Section 3 on Health and Nutrition) or fedstats.gov. Track down trade associations, or non-governmental sources on number of professionals (or households) that would need this product.

Parts, Scientific Products, and Materials

Many firms sell the parts and supplies you will need to build your product. Explore the following:

Questions?

Stop by the reference desk or set up a research consultation.

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Last modified: Mar 12, 2008, 09:38 EDT