Medical Imaging Technology - MSc
Currently viewing course to start in 2024/25 Entry.
The rapid evolution of medical imaging technology calls for experts to implement optimised imaging techniques and improve patient outcomes....
- Level Postgraduate Taught
- Study mode Full Time
- Location City South
- Award MSc
- Start date January 2025
- Fees View course fees
- School School of Health Sciences
- Faculty Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences
This course is:
Open to International Students
Overview
The rapid evolution of medical imaging technology calls for experts to implement optimised imaging techniques and improve patient outcomes. This course aims to prepare students from diverse backgrounds such as engineering, biomedical engineering, or life sciences for a professional career in imaging-related fields in healthcare and research, by providing in-depth knowledge in medical imaging technology and preparing for using technical and engineering skills to improve healthcare delivery.
What's covered in this course?
Our MSc in Medical Imaging Technology combines elements from physics, mathematics, computer science, biomedical engineering, biology and clinical medicine to help you develop your knowledge, understanding and skills of engineering design, medical imaging technologies and clinical environment.
Through internationally recognised researchers, projects, guest lecturers and a strong collaboration with medical imaging technology SMEs / NHS Trust partners, you will develop the skills needed for a career in a medical imaging-related filed in clinical practice, research, or technical development. A range of optional modules will be offered so you can gain a greater knowledge in an area of your choosing.
This course comprises both a taught component and a research project, giving you the skills and knowledge required to pursue a career in applied medical imaging technology field within clinical medicine, medical research, and scientific research or development.
Throughout the course you will complete your Professional Project – an independent piece of research on a topic within medical imaging technology that allows you to demonstrate your knowledge and skills.
We build employability into every aspect of our course. Through the course you will gain a range of transferable skills allowing you to take on a career in a number of sectors, alongside developing an in-depth understanding of your subject.
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 in a multidisciplinary environment alongside physicists, engineers, healthcare professionals, clinicians and other professionals from a range of fields.
- The course is open to students from a wide range of backgrounds (such as science, engineering, medicine, biology, etc.)
- Partnership working with medical technology SMEs / NHS Trust partners.
- Practitioners alongside the staff from the faculty and wider university involved in the delivery of curriculum.
- Careful selection of level 7 modules allowing students to cater for future career aspirations
- With ongoing collaborations with partners around the globe, you will have numerous opportunities to undertake HELS go abroad opportunities.
OPEN DAY
Join us on campus where you'll be able to find out more about your course, learn about postgraduate finance and get an insight into studying at BCU. Booking for the next event isn’t open yet. Register your interest below and we’ll email you as soon as booking goes live.
Next Event: 29 June 2024
Entry 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 who 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. | ||
| 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 Imaging Technology |
||
|
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.
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 develop your systematic understanding of all the major medical imaging techniques employed in modern hospitals, including x-ray imaging, computer tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, nuclear isotope imaging, and optical coherence tomography. You will learn about the basic physical and engineering principles behind major medical imaging techniques, and explore their relative advantages and disadvantages. You will gain a historical perspective of the development of each technique, as well as explore the latest innovations. Potentially new and emerging medical imaging techniques will be considered. You will discuss the implications for safe and efficient clinical practice will be discussed.
This module is designed to help you understand and develop skills to apply fundamental principles of medical image processing techniques to medical image analysis. It is intended that by engaging in this module, you will develop a sound understanding of molecular image synthesis and processing, medical image analysis and critical applications within medical imaging processing.
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 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.
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.
Download course specification
Download nowHow you will 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.
Employability
Employability
Employment opportunities in imaging-related fields in healthcare and research are excellent. You could choose to work in medical imaging technology research or development in an academic or industrial sector; or pursue a clinical career in radiology.
If you wish to follow a clinical technology/science career in medical physics, this degree is an excellent preparation to apply to trainee recruitment programmes.
It also forms a sound basis to proceed to PhD research in any aspect of medical imaging.
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 elective 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:
- Explore some of the good reasons why you should study here.
- Find out how to improve your language skills before starting your studies.
- Find all the information relevant to applicants from your country.
- Learn 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
Course Lead for MSc Medical Engineering and MSc Medical Imaging Technology
Dr George Oguntala PhD, CEng is a Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering. George joined Birmingham City University in 2020. He is the leader for the Interdisciplinary Research Cluster for Healthcare, Technology and Diseases. Before joining the University, George worked as an electronics engineer and consultant, as well as research assistant and...
More about George