Upgrading Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering Laboratory Training

This paper presents the upgrading of biomedical engineering laboratory training at the Department of Medical Instrumentation Technology of the Technological Educational Institution of Athens (TEI-A), taking place in the framework of the "Upgrading of Undergraduate Curricula of TEI-A" project. The educational material of selected specialized laboratory sectors is totally renewed, and new sectors are introduced, so that student-centered learning is promoted utilizing advanced computer-enhanced educational environments. The current implementation status is presented for the laboratories dealing with biosignal acquisition, medical data digital processing and, more extensively, computer networks applications in medicine, where a training application simulating a Radiology Department computer network was developed. Benefits of the use of a balanced training approach, combining hands-on experience with computer simulations, are discussed