Electrical and Computer Engineering 795:
Quantitative Electrophysiology
(Fall 2014)

Objective:

To provide a solid quantitative understanding of the behaviour of excitable cells, the resulting extracellular fields, measurement of extracellular fields using techniques such as EMG and EEG, and functional electrical stimulation of excitable cells for neural and muscular prostheses.

Instructors:

Dr. Hubert de Bruin,
ITB-A211, ext. 24171.
debruin@mcmaster.ca

Dr. Ian Bruce,
ITB-A213, ext. 26984.
ibruce@mail.ece.mcmaster.ca

References:

• R. Plonsey and R. C. Barr, Bioelectricity: a quantitative approach, 3rd Edition, Springer, 2007.
  Electronic copies (PDF files for each chapter) are free to download from the McMaster Library (available only for computers on the McMaster campus or logged in to the LibAccess system).
• D. Johnston and S. M.-S. Wu, Foundations of cellular neurophysiology, MIT Press, 1994.
• C. Koch, Biophysics of computation: information processing in single neurons, Oxford University Press, 1998.
• J. Malmivuo and R. Plonsey, Bioelectromagnetism: principles and applications of bioelectric and biomagnetic fields, Oxford University Press, 1995. (Web version available at: http://www.bem.fi/book/index.htm)
• J. G. Webster, Medical instrumentation: application and design, 3rd Edition, Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
• P. L. Nunez and R. Srinivasan, Electric fields of the brain: the neurophysics of EEG, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2005.
• B. Hille, "Ion Channels of Excitable Membranes," 3rd Edition, Sinauer Associates, 2001.
• Various articles from the literature

Prerequisite:

A basic undergraduate understanding of electrostatics, electrical circuits, linear systems, and ordinary & partial differential equations.

Course Outline: (subject to change)

1. Introduction to excitable cells; Equivalent electrical circuits for cell membranes
2. Cell excitability; Introduction to the Hodgkin-Huxley model
3. Linear cable equations; Propagation of electrical potential waveforms
4. Chemical synapses and gap junctions; Dendritic trees
5. Muscle physiology
6. Models for generation of extracellular fields
7. Measurement of bioelectric potentials (electrodes, differential amplification, filtering, data acquisition, etc.)
8. Electromyography (EMG)
9. Electroencephalography (EEG)
10. Fundamentals of functional electrical stimulation (FES)
11. Electrodes and sources for FES; Applications of FES

Assessment:

Assignment (15%); Project (25%); Midterm Exam (20%); Final Exam (40%).

Term:

I.

Lectures:

There will be one 3-hour lecture per week over eleven weeks, at 1:30–4:30pm on Wednesdays in ETB-534 (starting Sept. 10th).

Slides for:

Lecture #1 (Wednesday, September 10); Lecture #2 (Wednesday, September 17)
Lecture #3 (Wednesday, September 24); Lecture #4 (Wednesday, October 1)
Lecture #5 (Wednesday, October 8); Lecture #6 (Wednesday, October 15)
Lecture #7 (Wednesday, October 22); Lecture #8 (Wednesday, October 29)
Lecture #9 (Wednesday, November 5); Lecture #10 (Wednesday, November 19)
Lecture #11 (Wednesday, November 26)

Midterm Exam:

T.B.A.

Policy Reminders

"The Faculty of Engineering is concerned with ensuring an environment that is free of all adverse discrimination. If there is a problem, that cannot be resolved by discussion among the persons concerned, individuals are reminded they should contact the Departmental Chair, the Sexual Harassment Officer or the Human Rights Consultant, as soon as possible."

"Academic dishonesty consists of misrepresentation by deception or by other fraudulent means and can result in serious consequences, e.g. the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit with a notation on the transcript (notation reads: 'Grade of F assigned for academic dishonesty'), and/or suspension or expulsion from the university.

It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. For information on the various kinds of academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy, specifically Appendix 3, located at http://www.mcmaster.ca/policy/Students-AcademicStudies/AcademicIntegrity.pdf

The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty:
1. Plagiarism, e.g. the submission of work that is not one’s own or for which other credit has been obtained.
2. Improper collaboration in group work.
3. Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations."

Last updated Wedneday, November 26, 2014