Medical Engineering Applications for Healthcare - MSc
Currently viewing course to start in 2024/25 Entry. Switch to 2025/26 Entry
Medical engineers support improving healthcare delivery and medical practice by combining the design and problem-solving skills of engineering with medical and biological science to close the gap between engineering and medicine....
- Level Postgraduate Taught
- Study mode Full Time
- Award MSc
- Start date January 2025
- Fees View course fees
- Subjects
- Location City South
This course is:
Open to International Students
Overview
Medical engineers support improving healthcare delivery and medical practice by combining the design and problem-solving skills of engineering with medical and biological science to close the gap between engineering and medicine.
This MSc Medical Engineering Applications for Healthcare course combines fundamental concepts and knowledge in engineering, biology, and medicine to develop innovative technologies, material, processes, and systems, with the aim of improving healthcare. The course will enable students from a diverse background such as from engineering, biomedical engineering, medical / surgical, or life sciences, to gain the knowledge and skills to launch or develop their career as medical engineers in this demanding sector of healthcare.
International students will be eligible for a Graduate Route visa, which allows them to stay in the UK for up to two years after they graduate from the course, with no restriction on the type of work they can do.
What's covered in this course?
Medical Engineering is a discipline of engineering that interacts with the human body. The course will provide you with a thorough grounding across the whole field of medical engineering and to enable you to integrate and apply this knowledge to clinical problems. Industrial-led practical workshops and labs will help enhance your technical skills. This will enable you to relate ‘real-life’ commercial innovations to the underpinning academic theory learnt in the lectures.
Birmingham City University attracts a diverse range of students from across the world. Our state-of-the-art facilities will allow you to explore a variety of biomedical applications including: sensing and measuring on micro and nano scales, personal health tracking, remote diagnosis and monitoring, biomaterials to name a few. The knowledge acquired will then enable you to engage in exciting projects such as designing prostheses or devising new medical technology for physicians and medical professionals to be used in the prognosis, diagnosis and treatment of patients.
Throughout the course you will complete your Professional Project – an independent piece of research on a topic within medical engineering that allows you to demonstrate your knowledge and skills in this exciting field of Medical Engineering Applications for healthcare.
Throughout the course you will gain a range of transferable skills allowing you to undertake a career in a number of sectors, alongside developing an in-depth understanding of your subject. We build employability into every aspect of our course.
Where and how will I study?
You will learn within our recently extended City South Campus, located in Edgbaston just five minutes from Birmingham City Centre. Our campus has been recently re-developed and provides access to cutting-edge facilities that will enhance and support your learning during your time here.
You will experience a mixture of face-to-face and virtual teaching, self-directed study, practice-based lab activities.
Why Choose Us?
- You will learn from and collaborate with world-renowned educators and researchers across many disciplines. The course combines mechanical, mechatronic, electronic, chemical and materials engineering, allowing you to specialise in the areas that best suit your interests and aspirations.
- You will develop your expertise, communication and team-working skills as well as skills in fields of research whilst increasing your employability.
- You will have the opportunity to work with others through partnership working with medical technology SME’s / NHS Trust partners.
- You will gain the knowledge allowing you to contribute to innovative discoveries within fields such as biomedical technology, orthopaedic or tissue engineering, bioelectronics and the computational simulation of biomedical systems.
- You will have numerous opportunities to undertake HELS go abroad opportunities, etc. with ongoing collaborations with partners around the globe.
OPEN DAY
Join us for a Virtual Open Event where you'll be able to learn about this course in detail, meet our subject academics and learn more about postgraduate finance, all from the comfort of your own home.
Next Event: 5 February 2025
Entry Requirements
Essential requirements
UK students
| Applications will be through UCAS or direct application to the University. Opportunities for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) will be identified during the admissions process and will be on an individual basis before enrolment. | ||
| Essential | ||
|---|---|---|
| Applicants need to hold at least a Second Class Honours degree or equivalent in an engineering, technical, life sciences, medicine or medical aligned qualification. | ||
| Applicants without standard entry qualifications if can demonstrate and provide evidence of the necessary knowledge and skills and experience (of minimum three years) to successfully complete the course will also be considered. |
International students
| Essential | ||
|---|---|---|
| Those who meet residency/academic requirements of UK learners but whose language is not English will need to hold IELTS with an overall score of at least 6.0 with no element below 5.5. |
Other requirements
| In addition, development of this new provision, will provide opportunities for: | ||
|---|---|---|
| BCU top-up degree (in Biomedical Engineering) students in Colombo, Sri Lanka - which is currently delivered by HELS and | ||
| BEng Biomedical Engineering – UG degree, students at BCU to progress to a standalone Masters provision with or without a gap year, etc. | ||
|
BCU Biomedical Science or Diagnostic Radiography or Radiotherapy students to progress to a standalone Masters provision in Medical Engineering Applications for Healthcare. |
||
|
BEng Mechanical / Electronics engineering – UG degree, students at BCU to progress to a standalone Masters provision with or without a gap year, etc. |
If you have a qualification that is not listed, please contact us.
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MSc
Starting: Jan 2025
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 15 months
- £10,500 in 2024/25
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MSc
Starting: Jan 2025
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 15 months
- £17,710 in 2024/25
Personal statement
You’ll need to submit a personal statement as part of your application for this course. This will need to highlight your passion for postgraduate study – and your chosen course – as well as your personal skills and experience, academic success, and any other factors that will support your application for further study.
If you are applying for a stand alone module, please include the title of the module you want to study in your Personal Statement.
Not sure what to include? We’re here to help – take a look at our top tips for writing personal statements and download our free postgraduate personal statement guide for further advice and examples from real students.
Course in Depth
Core Modules
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 180 credits):
This module is designed to introduce you to the knowledge and skills required to design, execute and disseminate a research project relevant to medical engineering and imaging technology for healthcare. This will prepare you to carry out your research project later in the course. You will discuss fundamentals of experimental design, data acquisition and statistical analysis and have opportunities to analyse, interpret and report realistic experimental data.
This module focuses on the application of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) principles to medicine and biology. The aim of the module is to introduce you to key principles and practices relating to human anatomy and physiology, mechanics, electronics, electromagnetism, and mathematics used in the technical decision-making process for the design and development of healthcare technologies. This module enables students from varying backgrounds and career paths to transition into the advanced topics covered in the core and specialist modules delivered in the subsequent semesters of the course. In addition to lectures, you will undertake a workshop-based practical group project requiring you to apply the theory you have learned to solve practical problems.
This module will provide you with the knowledge and understanding of data science principles and approaches for healthcare applications to allow you to develop health data science skills and abilities for improving healthcare. It will also introduce you to the concepts and practicalities of programming in R. You will learn to explore, visualise, and analyse health data to understand data science principles, investigate patterns, model outcomes, and make predictions for medical applications.
This module covers the key principles of biological sensing within the clinical and research environments allowing you to develop the abilities and skills to apply the principles commonly used in the design and development of medical instrumentation for various clinical and non-clinical purposes.
This module introduces key concepts, techniques, and tools for digital signal processing. Applied Digital Signal Processing is a fundamental tool for any organisation to create realisable digital filters which can be applied in diverse application domains including the healthcare sector. There is a strong practical aspect to the module which culminates in a demonstration and viva of a real-time digital filter design.
The project is an opportunity for you to complete a piece of individual research work in your chosen topic to demonstrate your understanding of the field via applications in healthcare. You will have guidance and support from both the teaching staff and your allocated project supervisors.
Optional Modules
20 credits of optional modules are required to ensure 180 credits are achieved to gain the MSc.
This module will introduce you to various management protocols and procedures used within a Medical Devices / Health Care Sector to effectively manage a healthcare technology. It is intended that by undertaking this module, you will develop essential skills associated with the management of healthcare technology by undertaking strategic activities to inform your decision making so as to update an existing technology or implement essential change(s) at your work.
This module will introduce you to the technical concepts underpinning the design of SMART ultrasonic sensors for healthcare applications. It is intended that by undertaking this module, you will be able to apply and appreciate various technical skills pertaining to the technical design and development of the bespoke (bio) medical sensor technology, which encompasses: sensor modelling; sensor hardware design aspects; sensor interface with mobile applications; and using artificial intelligence to predict the performance of the same for various (bio) medical engineering / healthcare applications.
This module explicitly addresses students’ personal and/or professional development with a view to enhancing competence for service improvement in a rapidly changing health and healthcare environment. Through a flexible provision, students are inspired to reflect critically upon their individual learning needs as well as their organisations’ practices, to appraise and apply concepts from the literature on leadership, to issues of relevance for their role, organisation and overall programme of study.
Download course specification
Download nowHow you'll learn
An extensive range of assessments are utilised within this programme, which include podcasts, webinars, video conferencing presentations and debates, article preparation for publication, case reviews, critical incidence analysis and service development opportunities.
* STEMM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine.
Employability
Employability
There are excellent employment opportunities in the healthcare sector. The mix of professional engineering and healthcare related skills acquired through the course will enable you to pursue a wide range of careers in this dynamic and growing sector.
You could choose to work as a clinical engineer in hospitals to collaborate with clinicians in offering non-clinical services, or a medical engineer in companies working in the design, development and manufacture of medical devices. You could also go on to work in research institutes or academia; in governmental regulatory agencies; or as a technical consultant within marketing departments.
In addition, you’ll have a full complement of transferable skills – such as critical thinking, data analysis, report writing and communication – which are valued by employers.
Placements
You may have the chance to undertake valuable work placements, either in the UK or internationally. This could be done in a local hospital, a manufacturing company or in another relevant sector.
International
Birmingham City University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city. We welcome many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among our student community.
The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.
Our international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:
- Details of the entry requirements for our courses
- Some of the good reasons why you should study here
- How to improve your language skills before starting your studies
- Information relevant to applicants from your country
- Where to find financial support for your studies.
Facilities & Staff
We have invested over £400 million in our facilities, including an upgrade to our Skills and Simulation facilities at City South Campus. We boast up-to-date, innovative facilities that simulate the real situations that you may come across in the workplace. These resources are essential in offering you a hands-on introduction to health and social care practice.
Biomechanics Laboratory
Our biomechanics laboratory is a long room with cameras mounted on the sides, and sensors in the floor. It’s used to record motion, evaluate people's movements and analyse gait. It’s generally used by Sports courses and Biomedical Engineering.
Nutrition Science Kitchen
Our kitchen has several workstations to allow you to wash, prepare and cook food. There are multi-coloured chopping boards (following food hygiene standard regulations) and a range of utensils and appliances. This space is used by a range of courses including Dietetics, Secondary Design and Technology and Sport. You may use this room to prepare certain meals for teaching basic cooking or baking skills to school children and exploring nutritional education, or protein high recipes for athletes to support their training and fitness regime.
Microbiology Laboratory
The lab is equipped with modern equipment for teaching the molecular biology techniques that underpin modern clinical and research labs such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines and a variety of cell-analysis and cell-culture tools. The department also has DNA sequencing equipment.
Bioscience Laboratory
These Zeiss PrimoStar microscopes have a camera head and are connected to our IT network, meaning everything that students can see in their microscope can also be accessed via an app on our iPads and large screens, giving our lecturers and students a totally new way to share and discuss microscopy images.
Nutrition Science Research Laboratory
This laboratory is used by staff or students doing specific projects such as analysing the chemistry of food in the later stages of their degree.
Skills Classroom
This room can be used to practise a variety of skills but is primarily home to our Anatomage tables. An Anatomage table allows you to investigate anatomy digitally, from organs and muscles to skeletal forms and blood flow, the software includes real-life MRI scan data to help you develop your understanding of anatomy.
Our staff
Dr George Oguntala
Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering - Course Leader in MSc in Medical Engineering, Applications for Healthcare and MSc in Medical Imaging Technology
George is a Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering with specialism in Smart Homes and Infrastructures, Internet of Things, Sensors and Wearable Electronics at the Department of Life Sciences, Birmingham City University. He is the Programme Leader of the MSc in Medical Engineering Applications for Healthcare and MSc in Medical Imaging Technology...
More about GeorgeDr Vivek Indramohan
Associate Professor and Course Lead - Biomedical Engineering
With an overseas research student award (ORSAS) and University of Strathclyde scholarship, Vivek completed his Ph.D. (in Bioengineering) in 2009. Following the completion of his research degree, he commenced his work as a Research Assistant at University College of London (UCL) for 6 months, during which he was successful in obtaining a...
More about Vivek