With mathematical and computational models furthering our understanding of lung mechanics, function and disease, this book provides an all-inclusive introduction to the topic from a quantitative standpoint. Focusing on inverse modeling, the reader is guided through the theory in a logical progression, from the simplest models up to state-of-the-art models that are both dynamic and nonlinear. Key tools used in biomedical engineering research, such as regression theory, linear and nonlinear systems theory, and the Fourier transform, are explained. Derivations of important physical principles, such as the Poiseuille equation and the wave speed equation, from first principles are also provided. Example applications to experimental data throughout illustrate physiological relevance, whilst problem sets at the end of each chapter provide practice and test reader comprehension. This book is ideal for biomedical engineering and biophysics graduate students and researchers wishing to understand this emerging field.

The author, a physiologist, in giving the Liversidge lecture for 'the encouragement of research in chemistry', chose for his subject one in which the help of chemists as well as engineers and physicists is an essential condition of advance. It is his earnest hope that as a result of this book a chemist may come to the aid of physiologists in one of the most difficult and attractive scientific problems; the nature of the change that is transmitted in nerve.

The demand for clinical evidence has become an increasingly important issue in the development of medical devices. This demand is reflected not only in regulatory requirements but also by healthcare purchasers as healthcare reforms occur worldwide. Thirteen renowned experts have drawn on their practical experience in industry to provide you with this "recipe" book of how to plan, prepare, implement, and close out a medical device clinical investigation--regardless of where the trial site may be located. While many chapters reference the Medical Device Directive, the principles, philosophies, and methodologies explained are equally applicable to Active Implantable Medical Devices (AIMD) and In-vitro Diagnostic (IVD) products.

Presents Current Principles and Applications Biomedical engineering is considered to be the most expansive of all the engineering sciences. Its function involves the direct combination of core engineering sciences as well as knowledge of nonengineering disciplines such as biology and medicine. Drawing on material from the biomechanics section of The Biomedical Engineering Handbook, Fourth Edition and utilizing the expert knowledge of respected published scientists in the application and research of biomechanics, Biomechanics: Principles and Practices discusses the latest principles and applications of biomechanics and outlines major research topics in the field. This book contains a total of 20 chapters. The first group of chapters explores musculoskeletal mechanics and includes hard and soft-tissue mechanics, joint mechanics, and applications related to human function. The next group of chapters covers biofluid mechanics and includes a wide range of circulatory dynamics, such as blood vessel and blood cell mechanics and transport. The following group of chapters introduces the mechanical functions and significance of the human ear, including information on inner ear hair cell mechanics. The remaining chapters introduce performance characteristics of the human body system during exercise and exertion. Introduces modern viewpoints and developments Highlights cellular mechanics Presents material in a systematic manner Contains over 100 figures, tables, and equations Biomechanics: Principles and Practices functions as a reference for the practicing professional as well as an introduction for the bioengineering graduate student with a focus in biomechanics, biodynamics, human performance engineering, and human factors.

Many advances have been made in the last decade in the understanding of the computational principles underlying olfactory system functioning. Neuromorphic Olfaction is a collaboration among European researchers who, through NEUROCHEM (Fp7-Grant Agreement Number 216916)-a challenging and innovative European-funded project-introduce novel computing paradigms and biomimetic artifacts for chemical sensing. The implications of these findings are relevant to a wide audience, including researchers in artifical olfaction, neuroscientists, physiologists, and scientists working with chemical sensors. Developing neuromorphic olfaction from conceptual points of view to practical applications, this cross-disciplinary book examines: The biological components of vertebrate and invertebrate chemical sensing systems The early coding pathways in the biological olfactory system, showing how nonspecific receptor populations may have significant advantages in encoding odor intensity as well as odor identity The redundancy and the massive convergence of the olfactory receptor neurons to the olfactory bulb A neuromorphic approach to artificial olfaction in robots Reactive and cognitive search strategies for olfactory robots The implementation of a computational model of the mammalian olfactory system The book's primary focus is on translating aspects of olfaction into computationally practical algorithms. These algorithms can help us understand the underlying behavior of the chemical senses in biological systems. They can also be translated into practical applications, such as robotic navigation and systems for uniquely detecting chemical species in a complex background.

Learning Bio-Micro-Nanotechnology is a primer on micro/nanotechnology that teaches the vocabulary, fundamental concepts, and applications of micro/nanotechnology in biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, electronics, computers, biomedicine, microscopy, ethics, and risks to humankind. It provides an introduction into the small world with a low fog index, emphasizing the concepts using analogies and illustrations to simplify the non-observables. The chapters have many "thinking exercises" and summaries with references at the end of each chapter. The questions at the end are divided into Bloom's taxonomy of learning skills and also include team exercises and methods to assess learning. There are many calculations using dimensional analysis according to first principles, but the math is purposely kept at a low level and is used as a means of understanding the concepts. The appendices provide a math review and a glossary of terms. Carefully designed as an easy-to-read textbook and a practical reference, this book emphasizes learning micro/nanotechnology vocabulary, concepts, and applications from first principles and from a multi-disciplinary point of view. This makes it suitable for one- and two-semester courses as well as a reference for professionals in the field.

Automatic image analysis has become an important tool in many fields of biology, medicine, and other sciences. Since the first edition of Image Analysis: Methods and Applications, the development of both software and hardware technology has undergone quantum leaps. For example, specific mathematical filters have been developed for quality enhancement of original images and for extraction of specific features of interest. Also, more complex programs have been developed for the analysis of object forms in distinguishing cancer cells from normal tissue cells. Just as significant, three-dimensional analysis of proteins, organelles, or macroscopic objects is even more complex. In addition, recent space-based experiments have optimized techniques for the extraction of movement parameters of numerous motile objects. The second edition of Image Analysis: Methods and Applications addresses all these new developments. Moreover, two new chapters have been added. One focuses on images on the internet, and the other discusses microscope image restoration. These chapters add significantly to the existing body of information on Internet communication protocol and environment as well as to that on image file formats considerations. The materials also include a list of internet Web sites that pertain to digital images and software along with those that relate to image processing. With these considerations in mind, Image Analysis: Methods and Application, Second Edition is of incalculable value to professionals, academics, and users of all aspects of image analysis in biology and other areas of science.

The scope of nanotechnology in medical applications has expanded fast in the last two decades. With their unprecedented material properties, nanoscale materials present with unorthodox opportunities in a wide range of domains, including drug delivery and medical imaging. This book assembles the various facets of nanomedicine while discussing key issues such as physicochemical properties that enhance the appeal of nanomedicine. The book is an excellent resource for physicians, PhDs, and postdocs involved in nanomedicine research to learn and understand the scope and complexity of the subject. It begins with a short history of nanotechnology, followed by a discussion on the fundamental concepts and extraordinary properties of nanoscale materials, and then slowly unfolds into multiple chapters illustrating the uses of various nanomaterials in drug delivery, sensing, and imaging.

As the impact and importance of nanotechnology continues to grow, nanomedicine and biotechnology have become areas of increased development. Drug delivery by nanoparticulates and nanocoatings for medicial devices are among the many new techniques on the horizon. Years from now we will laugh at the approaches to treating disease we currently consider state of the art. To prepare for the future of medicine, biomedical engineers must have a deeply rooted understanding of the role of bionanotechnology.

Nano-biotechnology crosses the boundaries between physics, biochemistry and bioengineering, and has profound implications for the biomedical engineering industry. This book describes the quantum chemical simulation of a wide variety of molecular systems, with detailed analysis of their quantum chemical properties, individual molecular configurations, and cutting-edge biomedical applications. Topics covered include the basic properties of quantum chemistry and its conceptual foundations, the nanoelectronics and thermodynamics of DNA, the optoelectronic properties of the five DNA/RNA nucleobase anhydrous crystals, and key examples of molecular diode prototypes. A wide range of important applications are described, including protein binding of drugs such as cholesterol-lowering, anti-Parkinson and anti-migraine drugs, and recent developments in cancer biology are also discussed. This modern and comprehensive text is essential reading for graduate students and researchers in multidisciplinary areas of biological physics, chemical physics, chemical engineering, biochemistry and bioengineering.

Shaped by Quantum Theory, Technology, and the Genomics Revolution The integration of photonics, electronics, biomaterials, and nanotechnology holds great promise for the future of medicine. This topic has recently experienced an explosive growth due to the noninvasive or minimally invasive nature and the cost-effectiveness of photonic modalities in medical diagnostics and therapy. The second edition of the Biomedical Photonics Handbook presents fundamental developments as well as important applications of biomedical photonics of interest to scientists, engineers, manufacturers, teachers, students, and clinical providers. The second volume, Biomedical Diagnostics, focuses on biomedical diagnostic technologies and their applications from the bench to the bedside. Represents the Collective Work of over 150 Scientists, Engineers, and Clinicians Designed to display the most recent advances in instrumentation and methods, as well as clinical applications in important areas of biomedical photonics to a broad audience, this three-volume handbook provides an inclusive forum that serves as an authoritative reference source for a broad audience involved in the research, teaching, learning, and practice of medical technologies. What's New in This Edition: A wide variety of photonic biochemical sensing technologies have already been developed for clinical monitoring of physiological parameters, such as blood pressure, blood chemistry, pH, temperature, and the presence of pathological organisms or biochemical species of clinical importance. Advanced photonic detection technologies integrating the latest knowledge of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics allow sensing of early disease state biomarkers, thus revolutionizing the medicine of the future. Nanobiotechnology has opened new possibilities for detection of biomarkers of disease, imaging single molecules and in situ diagnostics at the single cell level. In addition to these state-of-the art advancements, the second edition contains new topics and chapters including: * Fiber Optic Probe Design * Laser and Optical Radiation Safety * Photothermal Detection * Multidimensional Fluorescence Imaging * Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging * Molecular Contrast Optical Coherence Tomography * Multiscale Photoacoustics * Polarized Light for Medical Diagnostics * Quantitative Diffuse Reflectance Imaging * Interferometric Light Scattering * Nonlinear Interferometric Vibrational Imaging * Multimodality Theranostics Nanoplatforms * Nanoscintillator-Based Therapy * SERS Molecular Sentinel Nanoprobes * Plasmonic Coupling Interference Nanoprobes Comprised of three books: Volume I: Fundamentals, Devices, and Techniques; Volume II: Biomedical Diagnostics; and Volume III: Therapeutics and Advanced Biophotonics, this second edition contains eight sections, and provides introductory material in each chapter. It also includes an overview of the topic, an extensive collection of spectroscopic data, and lists of references for further reading.

Computational models of neural networks have proven insufficient to accurately model brain function, mainly as a result of simplifications that ignore the physical reality of neuronal structure in favor of mathematically tractable algorithms and rules. Even the more biologically based "integrate and fire" and "compartmental" styles of modeling suffer from oversimplification in the former case and excessive discretization in the second. This book introduces an integrative approach to modeling neurons and neuronal circuits that retains the integrity of the biological units at all hierarchical levels. With contributions from more than 40 renowned experts, Modeling in the Neurosciences, Second Edition is essential for those interested in constructing more structured and integrative models with greater biological insight. Focusing on new mathematical and computer models, techniques, and methods, this book represents a cohesive and comprehensive treatment of various aspects of the neurosciences from the molecular to the network level. Many state-of-the-art examples illustrate how mathematical and computer modeling can contribute to the understanding of mechanisms and systems in the neurosciences. Each chapter also includes suggestions of possible refinements for future modeling in this rapidly changing and expanding field. This book will benefit and inspire the advanced modeler, and will give the beginner sufficient confidence to model a wide selection of neuronal systems at the molecular, cellular, and network levels.

The Handbook of Photonics for Biomedical Science analyzes achievements, new trends, and perspectives of photonics in its application to biomedicine. With contributions from world-renowned experts in the field, the handbook describes advanced biophotonics methods and techniques intensively developed in recent years. Addressing the latest problems in biomedical optics and biophotonics, the book discusses optical and terahertz spectroscopy and imaging methods for biomedical diagnostics based on the interaction of coherent, polarized, and acoustically modulated radiation with tissues and cells. It covers modalities of nonlinear spectroscopic microscopies, photonic technologies for therapy and surgery, and nanoparticle photonic technologies for cancer treatment and UV radiation protection. The text also elucidates the advanced spectroscopy and imaging of normal and pathological tissues. This comprehensive handbook represents the next step in contemporary biophotonics advances. By collecting recently published information scattered in the literature, the book enables researchers, engineers, and medical doctors to become familiar with major, state-of-the-art results in biophotonics science and technology.

Examining how biomedical nanosensors play a central role in the development of diagnostics and therapeutics for the early detection and treatment of diseases, this incisive account asserts that bringing a nanoscale perspective to sensing is expected to allow interrogation of biological systems; detection of ultra small concentration of biomolecules, ions, and molecular interactions; exploration of cellular mechanisms; and integration of nanosensors into many other devices, including implantable devices. Specifically addressing nanomaterials--nanoparticles, nanowires, and nanotubes--as sensing and therapeutic agents, this expansive study also covers selected technologies involving single-molecule and single-particle methods for tracking and reveals why biomedical nanosensors constitute a major new direction in nanomedicine.

The first book to tackle the application of smart polymers in bioseparation and bioprocessing, Smart Polymers: Applications in Biotechnology and Biomedicine broke new ground in this challenging field. Completely revised, updated, and following in the footsteps of its predecessor, the second edition is poised to take its place as a premier reference in this field. This new edition considers those polymers in which a highly nonlinear response of a smart polymer to small changes in the external medium is of critical importance for the successful functioning of the system. The systems discussed are based on soluble/insoluble transition of smart polymers in aqueous solution, on conformational transitions of the macromolecules physically attached or chemically grafted to a surface and on the shrinking/swelling of covalently cross-linked networks of macromolecules, i.e. smart hydrogels. The book focuses on the theory describing the behavior of smart polymers in solution, as gels, and when grafted to surfaces. It provides solid, quantitative descriptions and reliable guidelines, reflecting the maturation of the field and the demand for the development of new smart polymer systems. The coverage highlights smart gels and especially fast responding and macroporous gels, as these gels pave the way to different applications of smart polymers in the areas ofbioseparation, drug release, and microfluidics. With contributions from leading researchers as well as extensive end-of-chapter references, this volume offers a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art in the field and the potential for future developments.

Data mining can help pinpoint hidden information in medical data and accurately differentiate pathological from normal data. It can help to extract hidden features from patient groups and disease states and can aid in automated decision making. Data Mining in Biomedical Imaging, Signaling, and Systems provides an in-depth examination of the biomedical and clinical applications of data mining. It supplies examples of frequently encountered heterogeneous data modalities and details the applicability of data mining approaches used to address the computational challenges in analyzing complex data. The book details feature extraction techniques and covers several critical feature descriptors. As machine learning is employed in many diagnostic applications, it covers the fundamentals, evaluation measures, and challenges of supervised and unsupervised learning methods. Both feature extraction and supervised learning are discussed as they apply to seizure-related patterns in epilepsy patients. Other specific disorders are also examined with regard to the value of data mining for refining clinical diagnoses, including depression and recurring migraines. The diagnosis and grading of the world's fourth most serious health threat, depression, and analysis of acoustic properties that can distinguish depressed speech from normal are also described. Although a migraine is a complex neurological disorder, the text demonstrates how metabonomics can be effectively applied to clinical practice. The authors review alignment-based clustering approaches, techniques for automatic analysis of biofilm images, and applications of medical text mining, including text classification applied to medical reports. The identification and classification of two life-threatening heart abnormalities, arrhythmia and ischemia, are addressed, and a unique segmentation method for mining a 3-D imaging biomarker, exemplified by evaluation of osteoarthritis, is also present

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the use of noble metal nanoparticles for bioimaging and biosensing. It starts with a review on the synthesis, characterization, optical properties, and bioconjugation of noble metal nanoparticles, followed by introduction of various biodetection techniques based on noble metal nanoparticles. In between these topics, microfabrication of biosensing chips and the use of microfluidics to enhance biosensing performance are discussed.

Praise for Computational Systems BiologyApproaches in Cancer Research: "Complex concepts are written clearly and with informative illustrations and useful links. The book is enjoyable to read yet provides sufficient depth to serve as a valuable resource for both students and faculty." - Trey Ideker, Professor of Medicine, UC Xan Diego, School of Medicine "This volume is attractive because it addresses important and timely topics for research and teaching on computational methods in cancer research. It covers a broad variety of approaches, exposes recent innovations in computational methods, and provides acces to source code and to dedicated interactive web sites." - Yves Moreau, Department of Electrical Engineering, SysBioSys Centre for Computational Systems Biology, University of Leuven With the availability of massive amounts of data in biology, the need for advanced computational tools and techniques is becoming increasingly important and key in understanding biology in disease and healthy states. This book focuses on computational systems biology approaches, with a particular lens on tackling one of the most challenging diseases - cancer. The book provides an important reference and teaching material in the field of computational biology in general and cancer systems biology in particular. The book presents a list of modern approaches in systems biology with application to cancer research and beyond. It is structured in a didactic form such that the idea of each approach can easily be grasped from the short text and self-explanatory figures. The coverage of topics is diverse: from pathway resources, through methods for data analysis and single data analysis to drug response predictors, classifiers and image analysis using machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches. Features Up to date using a wide range of approaches Applicationexample in each chapter Online resources with useful applications'

This book examines the role of everyday technology throughout the life cycle in order to demonstrate the wide acceptance and impact of everyday technology and how it is facilitating both practitioners and patients in contemporary practices. In response, then, this text speaks to a number of audiences. Students writing for undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations/proposals will find the array of works insightful, supported with a vast number of references signposting to key texts. For academics, practitioners and prospective researchers this text offers key empirical and methodological insight that can help focus and uncover originality in their own field. We anticipate that readers will find the collection of empirical examples useful for informing their own work, but also, it attempts to ignite new discussions and arguments regarding the application and use of everyday technology for enhancing health internationally. Explores the multifaceted use and application of each 'everyday technology' that impact on diagnosis, treatment and management of individuals. Examines an array of everyday technologies and how these that can either enhance and/or hinder patient/service user outcomes i.e. handheld devices, computer workstations, gamification and artificial intelligence. Discusses technologies that are intended to facilitate patient diagnosis, practitioner-patient relations, within an array of health contexts. Provides readers with an overview with future direction of everyday technologies and its limitations.

This book reports on the latest knowledge concerning critical phenomena arising in fluid-structure interaction due to movement and/or deformation of bodies. The focus of the book is on reporting progress in understanding turbulence and flow control to improve aerodynamic / hydrodynamic performance by reducing drag, increasing lift or thrust and reducing noise under critical conditions that may result in massive separation, strong vortex dynamics, amplification of harmful instabilities (flutter, buffet), and flow -induced vibrations. Theory together with large-scale simulations and experiments have revealed new features of turbulent flow in the boundary layer over bodies and in thin shear layers immediately downstream of separation. New insights into turbulent flow interacting with actively deformable structures, leading to new ways of adapting and controlling the body shape and vibrations to respond to these critical conditions, are investigated. The book covers new features of turbulent flows in boundary layers over wings and in shear layers immediately downstream: studies of natural and artificially generated fluctuations; reduction of noise and drag; and electromechanical conversion topics. Smart actuators as well as how smart designs lead to considerable benefits compared with conventional methods are also extensively discussed. Based on contributions presented at the IUTAM Symposium "Critical Flow Dynamics involving Moving/Deformable Structures with Design applications", held in June 18-22, 2018, in Santorini, Greece, the book provides readers with extensive information about current theories, methods and challenges in flow and turbulence control, and practical knowledge about how to use this information together with smart and bio-inspired design tools to improve aerodynamic and hydrodynamic design and safety.

The rapid and continuous growth in the amount of available medical information and the variety of multimodal content has created demand for a fast and reliable technology capable of processing data and delivering results in a user-friendly manner, whenever and wherever the information is needed. Multimodal acquisition systems, AI-powered applications, and biocybernetic support for medical procedures, physiotherapy and prevention have opened up exciting new avenues in terms of optimizing the healthcare system for the benefit of patients. This book presents a comprehensive study on the latest advances in medical data science and gathers carefully selected articles written by respected experts on information technology. Pursuing an interdisciplinary approach and addressing both theoretical and applied aspects, it chiefly focuses on: Artificial Intelligence Image Analysis Sound and Motion in Physiotherapy and Physioprevention Modeling and Simulation Medical Data Analysis Given its scope, the book offers a valuable reference tool for all scientists who deal with problems of designing and implementing information processing tools employed in systems that assist in patient diagnosis and treatment, as well as students who want to learn more about the latest innovations in quantitative medical data analysis, data mining, and artificial intelligence.

This transformative textbook, first of its kind to incorporate engineering principles into medical education and practice, will be a useful tool for physicians, medical students, biomedical engineers, biomedical engineering students, and healthcare executives. The central approach of the proposed textbook is to provide principles of engineering as applied to medicine and guide the medical students and physicians in achieving the goal of solving medical problems by engineering principles and methodologies. For the medical students and physicians, this proposed textbook will train them to "think like an engineer and act as a physician". The textbook contains a variety of teaching techniques including class lectures, small group discussions, group projects, and individual projects, with the goals of not just helping students and professionals to understand the principles and methods of engineering, but also guiding students and professionals to develop real-life solutions. For the biomedical engineers and biomedical engineering students, this proposed textbook will give them a large framework and global perspective of how engineering principles could positively impact real-life medicine. To the healthcare executives, the goal of this book is to provide them general guidance and specific examples of applying engineering principles in implementing solution-oriented methodology to their healthcare enterprises. Overall goals of this book are to help improve the overall quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery and outcomes.

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"This book is essential when designing, developing and studying biomedical materials. provides an excellent review from a patient, disease, and even genetic point of view of materials engineering for the biomedical field. This well presented book strongly insists on how the materials can influence patients needs, the ultimate drive for biomedical engineering. presents an] Interesting and innovative review from a patient focus perspective the book emphasizes the importance of the patients, which is not often covered in other biomedical material s books.""

Fanny Raisin-Dadre, BioInteractions Ltd., Berkshire, England

Going far beyond the coverage in most standard books on the subject, Biomaterials Science: An Integrated Clinical and Engineering Approach offers a solid overview of the use of biomaterials in medical devices, drug delivery, and tissue engineering.

Combining discussion of materials science and engineering perspectives with clinical aspects, this book emphasizes integration of clinical and engineering approaches. In particular, it explores various applications of biomaterials in fields including tissue engineering, neurosurgery, hemocompatibility, BioMEMS, nanoparticle-based drug delivery, dental implants, and obstetrics/gynecology.

The book engages those engineers and physicians who are applying biomaterials at various levels to:

• Increase the rate of successful deployment of biomaterials in humans
• Lower the side-effects of such a deployment in humans
• Accumulate knowledge and experience for improving current methodologies
• Incorporate information and understanding relevant to future challenges, such as permanent artificial organ transplants

Using a variety of contributors from both the clinical and engineering sides of the fields mentioned above, this book stands apart by emphasizing a need for the often lacking approach that integrates these two equally important aspects.

This book explains, using the example of endovascular intervention, the development of in vitro simulators for biomedical applications based on the scientific context in the robotics area and the explanation of the medical procedure to be simulated. It presents modeling methods for in vitro representation of human tissue and for representing tissue integrity during endovascular surgery simulation. Additionally, applications of this in vitro vasculature modeling technology are presented: flow control for human blood pressure simulation, computer fluid dynamics simulations using vasculature morphology, catheter insertion robot control and vasculature imaging based on magnetic trackers, and tailor-made scaffolds for blood vessel regeneration.

Physiology, Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering provides a multidisciplinary understanding of biological phenomena and the instrumentation for monitoring these phenomena. It covers the physical phenomena of electricity, pressure, and flow along with the adaptation of the physics of the phenomena to the special conditions and constraints of biological systems. While the text focuses on human biological systems, some of the principles also apply to plants, bacteria, and other animals.

The first section of the book presents a general introduction to physiological systems and describes specialized methods used to record electrical events from biological tissue. The next part examines molecules involved in cell transport and signaling as well as the proteins relevant in cells ability to contract and generate tension. The text goes on to cover the properties of the heart, blood, and circulation and the monitoring of cardiac and circulatory function. It then discusses the importance of the interrelationship of pressures and flows in organ systems, such as the lungs and kidneys, and details the organization and function of the nervous system. After focusing on the systems used to monitor signals, the book explores modeling, biomechanics, and emerging technologies, including the progressive miniaturization of sensors and actuators in biomedical engineering.

Developed from the authors courses in medical biophysics and biomedical instrumentation, this book shows how biophysics and biomedical engineering have advanced modern medicine. It brings together the physical principles underlying human physiological processes and the physical methods used to monitor these processes. Requiring only basic mathematical knowledge, the text supplements mathematical formulae with qualitative explanations and illustrations to encourage an intuitive grasp on the processes discussed."