This course relates to the phenomenon of ultrasound and its realisation and applications in fields such as biomedical engineering, electrical/electronic engineering and mechanical engineering. It relies on a sound grasp of many basic engineering concepts, adds some specialised concepts and illustrates the importance of integrated understanding.

One extended teaching block per week

ENG5302 Ultrasound Technology and Applications

None

70% Written Exam

30% Group preparation of a video on a defined, relevant topic

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

The aims of this course are to:

■ provide students with knowledge of the characteristics of ultrasound as a mechanical wave able to propagate in many different materials, as disparate as human tissue, engineering metals and semiconductors;

■ provide students with knowledge and skills to design simple examples of the key components in systems used to apply ultrasound, such as the ultrasonic transducer, the related electronic circuitry, and array implementations;

■ provide students with the skills to identify appropriate ultrasound system implementations for specific applications in imaging and sensing and in its use as a means to deliver energy remotely, with examples in medicine, engineering and physics.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ describe the nature of ultrasound as a mechanical wave phenomenon and how ultrasound waves are formed and propagate in different media;

■ relate the technologies needed to create ultrasound systems to those in other, analogous systems;

■ define the reasons for the importance of specific ultrasound parameters such as frequency, wavelength and intensity;

■ apply ultrasound technology to solve engineering problems in imaging and sensing and in remote delivery of energy for medical diagnosis and other uses.

Students must attend the degree examination and submit at least 75% by weight of the other components of the course's summative assessment.

Students must attend the timetabled demonstration sessions.