At Northeastern there is a course titled Design of Biomedical Instrumentation. It is a project-based course during which pairs of students work as a team to design and construct hardware and software for a complete medical device prototype. The premise is that students select a study related to HRV (heart rate variability) and design a device that would allow future researchers to replicate the study using the single device. Working in tandem with my partner Dylan Scheiner, we created a device that measures heart rate via PPG (photoplethysmography), filters the data using a series of hardware and software filters, detects beats within the analog signal, generates data on the time intervals between beats, and performs calculations with this data on a running basis. 

To build such a device, I developed and employed many skills including circuit design and analysis, software design in Simulink, signal processing, teamwork, problem solving, and time management. This project ended up being a highly successful effort, and I am greatly appreciative of my teammate and the skills we built along the way. 

This classroom project gave me great insight into signal processing and the development of hardware and software components for medical devices. Additionally, I was able to combine my knowledge of mathematics and running calculations with real-life examples, creating a functional prototype.