34 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. 50, NO. 1, FEBRUARY 2007 BioLab: An Educational Tool for Signal Processing Training in Biomedical Engineering Juan F. Guerrero, Member, IEEE, Manuel Bataller, Member, IEEE, Emilio Soria, and Rafael Magdalena Abstract—This paper introduces and evaluates BioLab, a tool for teaching biosignal processing. BioLab has been used in the biomed- ical engineering module that is given in the second semester of the fifth year of the electronic engineering degree at the Univer- sity of Valencia, Spain. This module and its correspondent curric- ular pathway are also reviewed. BioLab allows the results obtained with digital processing techniques to be shown interactively in the theory classes, and it also provides support in laboratory sessions. The graphic interface of BioLab simplifies its learning and use and provides access to processing and visualization functions by means of menus. The tool is based on Matlab since the students have had previous experience in this environment. BioLab also supports di- verse formats of data files, which facilitate access to real records and their conversion to usable formats. The modular structure of BioLab allows it to be easily extended to other educational mate- rials that are related to signal processing and to research applica- tions. An evaluation of BioLab has revealed that students found it useful for understanding the general concepts of digital processing and biosignal processing in particular. The students also found Bi- oLab very easy to learn and use. Index Terms—Biomedical engineering (BME), digital signal processing (DSP), educational software, Matlab, project-based learning. I. BACKGROUND A. Digital Signal Processing in Biomedical Engineering B IOMEDICAL ENGINEERING (BME) is an important ap- plication field in digital signal processing (DSP). Tech- niques, such as digital and adaptive filtering, spectrum estima- tion, compression, time series processing, source separation, and pattern classification, are used to analyze the features and interrelations of biosignals. These techniques allow the extrac- tion of information about the functioning of organs and phys- iological systems, which can then be used as a basis for med- ical diagnosis [1]. In the last few years, a significant attempt has been made to develop educational materials that facilitate student learning in the field of BME. Several options are avail- able. Educational resources provide texts, videos, and interac- tive simulators [2], although their degree of utility depends on their adaptability to the particular profile of the course for which their use is intended. There are also virtual instruments that are Manuscript received May 16, 2005; revised August 7, 2006. J. F. Guerrero is with the Digital Signal Processing Group, Electronic En- gineering Department, University of Valencia, Spain, and also with the De- partment of Electronic Engineering, Universidad de Valencia, 46100 Burjasot, Valencia, Spain (e-mail: juan.guerrero@uv.es). M. Bataller, E. Soria, and R. Magdalena are with the Digital Signal Processing Group, Electronic Engineering Department, University of Valencia, Spain. Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TE.2006.886463 particularly appropriate for biosignal acquisition applications (the most widely used of which are Biopac and Labview) [3]. A third option is the use of function libraries to develop specific applications for teaching DSP and for biosignal processing (the majority of these function libraries are in C or Matlab) [4], [5]. B. Utility of BioLab The software tool described in this paper has been developed to allow the students to learn the DSP techniques that are widely applied in BME. This tool was originally conceived to serve as a learning aid for the optional biomedical engineering course module, which is given in the second semester of the fifth year of the electronic engineering degree at the University of Valencia, Spain. This module falls within the DSP curricular pathway, which is composed of two compulsory and three optional mod- ules (Fig. 1). Before starting the biomedical engineering course module, the experience of the students is not homogeneous. The students who have completed the first four modules of the curriculum in Fig. 1 already have a solid theoretical base of DSP and wide experience in the use of Matlab, since it has been used in all five of the modules detailed. However, these students have no previous experience in biosignal processing. A small percentage of the students who enroll in the BME module have not taken the optional modules so that their DSP knowledge is even more limited. The biomedical engineering module has a total of 45 h (4.5 credits), which are distributed in 30 h of theory and 15 h of laboratory sessions. The time limitations, and the factors afore- mentioned, have led to a fundamentally applied orientation. The module is centered more on results than on theoretical de- velopment and highlights the problems and utility of biosignal processing in the medical field. The module has been structured in three blocks. In the first block, the students are introduced to the features and methods of obtaining the main biosignals. This block also provides the necessary basis for understanding problems associated with their processing. In the second block, which is the largest, diverse DSP techniques are applied to biosignals; the results are analyzed, and the most suitable type of processing in each case is determined. Finally, in the third block, the foundations of medical instrumentation systems are presented, emphasizing the role of digital processing in their operation. The specific DSP topics covered are as follows: • digital, adaptive, and averaging filtering; • nonparametric, parametric, and time-frequency spectral estimation; • time series: series generation and information extraction; • biosignal compression; 0018-9359/$25.00 © 2007 IEEE