Master of Engineering in Surgery and Intervention Program - School of Engineering | School of Engineering | Vanderbilt Universit

Master of Engineering in Surgery and Intervention Program - School of Engineering | School of Engineering | Vanderbilt University
Master of Engineering in Surgery and Intervention Program
At the Intersection of Healthcare and Engineering
Over the past several decades, dramatic breakthroughs in biomedical science have been witnessed within laboratory research, but the ability to translate those discoveries and make new discoveries has been a challenge and has been often characterized as the bottleneck of clinical translation.
At Vanderbilt University, we believe that the fundamental constraints associated with clinical translation can be dramatically improved with the training of engineers intimately familiar with medical procedures and trained in the inception of novel technology-based platforms.
Vanderbilt University offers a new graduate engineering program that will equip engineers to improve translation of technology for surgery and intervention
In response to this need, Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, in partnership with the
Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE)
, has launched a master of engineering in surgery and intervention — a niche, rigorous engineering graduate program that will prepare the next generation of engineers to address challenges and envision solutions at the interface of engineering and medicine. The master of engineering program also serves current MD trainees and graduates seeking to
build skills as physician inventors
The degree is a 30-credit hour program designed to enhance training in the domains of engineering for surgery and intervention with extensive exposure to clinical domains. ESI core skill sets available for training are:
interventional imaging, therapeutics, and delivery,
modeling, simulation, artificial intelligence, image analysis, and data science,
robotics and medical devices.
The ESI Story
Panel Discussion Series
Resource Library
Explore VISE
To learn more about our master of engineering in surgery and intervention, connect with our team today!
vuse.esi@vanderbilt.edu
Why Vanderbilt?
Decades of investment in engineering, surgery, and intervention research with world-class faculty
An intensive and supportive immersion experience with ~20 clinical specialties
An unparalleled integration of engineering (VUSE/VISE) and clinical (VUMC) resources
Extensive experience in commercial realizations among cadre
Vanderbilt University’s strong history of and commitment to interdisciplinary work and the close proximity of its Medical and Engineering Schools makes it the ideal institution for advancing the state of the art in this field. In conjunction with VISE, the School of Engineering provides a transformative infrastructure that facilitates this interdisciplinary work and creates an environment in which traditional boundaries are eliminated. In fact, Vanderbilt University is one of the only universities to offer such a ground-breaking program.
This type of program is highly needed within the industry and Vanderbilt University is uniquely qualified to offer it
The current and emeritus members of VISE have been performing trans-institutional work for almost four decades within the domains of surgery, intervention and engineering. This relationship is unique to Vanderbilt and has been maintained by the passion of the members devoted to this domain.
Over these four decades, this cadre has had the singular vision to see Vanderbilt as world leaders in this unique field. The VISE faculty firmly believe that what we have accomplished thus far is only a fraction of what is possible provided that institutional support and future investment be equally passionate.
In short, the focus of VISE and this master of engineering in surgery and intervention is exactly on this type of technology platform development for both treatment and discovery.
Qualifications
We understand that navigating the graduate school admissions process can seem challenging. In an effort to simplify the process for you, we’ve outlined some of the requirements below.
Applications must be
submitted online
, but to help you understand the admissions criteria, here are some of the basic requirements:
Online application
Academic performance in previous degree program(s)
Resume or CV
Three letters of recommendation
A statement of purpose
TOEFL score (if applicable)
An admissions committee with representative faculty from the involved departments will evaluate all applications. Admission will be competitive and students will be selected on the basis of their scholastic preparation and intellectual capacity.
Apply Now
ESI Program Curriculum
Students who pursue this degree commonly hold a bachelor’s degree in a conventional engineering discipline (e.g., mechanical, electrical, or biomedical engineering) or computer science. However, the program is also adaptable to other STEM areas as well (e.g., neuroscience, physics, mathematics, etc.). If you have questions, be sure to send inquiries to
vuse.esi@vanderbilt.edu
With regard to program structure, the master of engineering in surgery and intervention has three tracks: the innovator track, the inventor track, and the visionary track. Each track is 30 credit hours and consists of core course work and electives — learn more about these three tracks below:
Innovator Track
The innovator track program is a one-year
program specifically structured to enable students who are constrained by career path developments such that extended multi-year study is not possible. The goals of the program are to quickly provide enhanced skill sets with rigorous study, as well as provide important exposure to many clinical domains. This track sequence is
Fall Semester - Spring Semester - Summer Session I - Summer Session II
Typical curriculum for the innovator track:
Fall Semester
ESI: Methods
Professional Development*
(e.g. ENGM 6500)
Elective
Elective
Spring Semester
BME 6301 ESI: Provocative
Questions
Elective
Elective
Elective
Summer Session
ESI: Design I
(first half)
ESI: Design II
(second half)
Inventor Track
The inventor track program is the same 30 credit hour program but is a more conventional option consisting of two-years of courses. This track is specifically structured to enable students who have recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree and who wish to spend a concentrated period of time gaining skill sets within the engineering and surgery/intervention domain. This extended structure allows students to spend additional time within the novel research/design VISE environment to assist in the inception phase of their platform technologies in surgery and intervention. This track sequence is
Fall Semester I - Spring Semester 1 - Fall Semester II - Spring Semester II.
Typical curriculum for the inventor track:
Fall Semester – Year 1
ESI: Methods
Professional Development* (e.g. ENGM 6500)
Elective
Spring Semester – Year 1
BME 6301 ESI: Provocative Questions
Elective
Elective
Fall Semester – Year 2
Elective
ESI: Design I
Spring Semester – Year 2
Elective
ESI: Design II
*Note:  There are several professional courses in the School of Engineering that would satisfy this requirement.  This is done in consultation with the student’s adviser and program director.  This can be satisfied in Fall or Spring.
Visionary Track
The visionary track program is a one-year program for physician-inventors who wish to pursue the M.Eng. in Surgery and Intervention in addition to their MD degree. The visionary track is available to residents, fellows, and attending physicians who have already completed their MD degree, and is also approved as an MD-M.Eng. dual degree program for medical students attending Vanderbilt University's School of Medicine, which is completed during a gap year between M3 and M4. Up to 6 credit hours for surgery clerkship or medicine clerkship from the MD degree can be transferred into the 30-credit hour M.Eng. program.
Typical curriculum for the visionary track of the master of engineering in surgery and intervention program:
Fall Semester – Year 1
ESI: Design I (first half)
ESI: Methods
Professional Development* (e.g. ENGM 6500)
Elective
Spring Semester – Year 1
ESI: Design II (second half)
BME 6301 ESI: Provocative Questions
Professional Development* (e.g. ENGM 6500)
Elective
Elective
*Note:  There are several professional courses in the School of Engineering that would satisfy this requirement.  This is done in consultation with the student’s adviser and program director.  This can be satisfied in Fall or Spring.
Course Descriptions
Within the master of engineering in surgery and intervention, there are five required core courses: one immersion, one methods, one professional, and two design. The remainder of the degree involves an additional five electives
Substitution of core components may be possible in consultation with the Program Director.
ESI – Immersion:
BME 6301 — Engineering in Surgery and Intervention: Provocative Questions
This course is designed to provide an in depth clinical immersion with a scaffold design involving ten or more physicians from a variety of medical specialties discussing disease and dysfunction background, and the most common and challenging procedures, interventions and treatments in their practice. In addition, the clinical cadre propose provocative questions for added discussion to encourage creativity and lateral thinking.  Accompanying didactic lectures relate basic engineering principles to associated procedural medicine topics.
ESI – Methods
(examples of satisfying courses are below, not a complete list):
Devices: CS 8395 — Internet of Medical Things
The course covers foundational topics for designing Internet of medical things (IoMT) solutions including systems (devices, interoperability, and integration), algorithms (data design, feature engineering, and time series machines learning), and commercialization (regulatory pathways and entrepreneurship). Case studies motivate challenges, solutions, and future opportunities in IoMT system and algorithm design to de-risk commercialization from concept to market adoption. Upon completion, students will be prepared to engage in commercially-viable IoMT research and development.
Guidance and Delivery: ECE 8395 — Engineering for Surgery and Intervention
Students will gain expertise in a breadth of technical topics of interest in engineering in surgery and other medical interventions, with focus on both theory and project experience. Topics will include interactive data visualization and analysis, image acquisition and reconstruction, registration and optical tracking, image processing, machine learning and deep learning, and bio modeling.
Image Analysis and Data Science: CS 5262 — Foundations of Machine Learning
Theoretical and algorithmic foundations of supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning. Linear and nonlinear regression, kernel methods, support vector machines, neural networks and deep learning methods, instance-based methods, ensemble classifiers, clustering and dimensionality reduction, value and policy iteration. Explainable AI, ethics, and data privacy.
Image Processing: CS 8395 — Open Source Programming for Medical Image Processing
This hands-on course introduces students to the open-source libraries, tools and techniques for solving medical image analysis problems in research, commercial and clinical settings. The topics will include open-source libraries for addressing visualization needs that arise in medical image analysis, as well as open-source cross-platform software as development based for advanced work. This course will also use best practices, such as version management, needed for generating reproducible results.
Imaging:  BME 7420 — Magnetic Resonance Imaging Methods
MR techniques to image tissue for clinical evaluation and research. RF pulses, k-space trajectories, chemical shift, motion, flow, and relaxation. Derivation of signal equations for pulse sequence design and analysis. Course includes hands-on experimental studies.
Modeling:  BME 7310 — Advanced Computational Modeling and Analysis In Biomedical Engineering
By the end of this course, the student will understand the details of how to model different biological systems and some of the most current topics in modeling today.  Additionally, a sound understanding will be developed between the mathematics of models and their physiological counterparts for future work in biomedical simulation, imaging, and therapeutic/surgical guidance.  The student should gain a firm grasp of numerical methods for the solution of partial differential equations at the course conclusion.
Robotics:  ME 5271 — Robotics
History and application of robots. Robotic mechanical architecture, mobility analysis of linkages, rotations and rigid body transformations and their parametrizations. Homogeneous coordinates of points and lines, exponential coordinates of rotation and twist coordinates, direct and inverse position analysis of serial manipulators and elimination theory. Serial robot statics and compliance, motion interpolation/path planning, instantaneous kinematics and Jacobian formulations. Lagrangian dynamics of serial robots, and motion control.
Professional Core
ENGM 6500 — Engineering Leadership and Program Management
Students will learn to apply core principles of leadership and program management as engineering professionals. The course will cover strategic planning, people management, staffing, compensation, business process improvement theory, business interruption, leadership styles, emotional intelligence, negotiation and ethical business practices.
Design Core:
Six credit hours of BME/ME/ or ECE 7899 are required
Students in this course are immersed in an intensive design project working with both clinical and engineering mentors that is focused at cutting edge solutions to contemporary surgical and interventional problems using their enhanced skills in engineering design acquired over the course of their training program.
Electives:
The remaining 15 credit hours will be chosen from a number of electives. While not a complete list, some possible elective courses available are:
BME 5400 Foundations of Medical Imaging
BME 7110 Laser-Tissue Interaction and Therapeutic Use of Lasers
BME 7310 Advanced Computational Modeling and Analysis in Biomedical Engineering
BME 7450 Advanced Quantitative and Functional Imaging
BME 8901 Special Topics on Bioacoustics and Ultrasonic Imaging
BME 8901 Advanced Drug Delivery
BME 8901 Special Topics – Advanced Ultrasound Imaging
BME 8901 Special Topics – Advanced Ultrasound Imaging
BME 8901/ME 8391 Special Topics – Science and Engineering of Exoskeletons
BME 8901 Special Topics – Optical Device Development
BME 8901 Special Topics – Computational Genomics
CS 5249 Projects in Virtual Reality Design
CS 5260 Artificial Intelligence
CS 5376 Foundations of Human Computer Interactions
CS 5891 Special Topics – Numerical Methods for CS
CS 5891 Special Topics – Algorithms for Decision-Making
CS 5891 Special Topics – Reinforcement Learning
CS 6357 Open-Source Programming for Medical Image Analysis
CS 6362 Advanced Machine Learning
CS 8395 Special Topics – Deep Learning: Representation
CS 8395 Special Topics - Deep Learning in Medical Image Computing
ECE 6357 Advanced Image Processing
ECE 6354 Intelligent Systems and Robotics
ECE 8395 Special Topics – Analysis of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
ECE 5353 Image Processing
ECE 5363 Applied Statistical Machine Learning
ECE 6357 Advanced Image Processing
ECE 5257 Control Systems I
ME 5263 Computational Fluid Dynamics and Multiphysics Modeling
ME 5236 Linear Control Theory
ME 5271 Robotics
ME 5284 Modeling and Simulation of Dynamic Systems
ME 8323 Micro/NanoElectroMechanical Systems
ME 8353 Design of Electromechanical Systems
ME 8391 Special Topics – Optimization and Optimal Control
ME 8391 Special Topics – Bio-Inspired Robotics
ME 8331 Robotic Manipulators
ME 8391 Special Topics in Robotics and Mechanism Synthesis
Engineering in Surgery and Intervention Faculty
Justin Baba
Adjoint Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
View profile
Matthew Bacchetta
Associate Chair and Professor, Department of Thoracic Surgery
View profile
Eric Barth
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
View profile
Franz Baudenbacher
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Associate Professor of Physics
View profile
Audrey Bowden
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Dorothy J. Wingfield Phillips Chancellor's Faculty Fellow
View profile
Brett Clay Byram
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
View profile
Catie Chang
Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
View profile
Christos Constantinidis
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Neuroscience, Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
View profile
Benoit Dawant
Professor of Electrical Engineering, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Director, Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE)
View profile
Mark D Does
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Director of Graduate Recruiting in Biomedical Engineering
View profile
Xiaoguang Dong
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
View profile
Yayun Du
Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
View profile
Craig L. Duvall
Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering, Professor of Biomedical Engineering
View profile
Dario J Englot
Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Surgical Director of Epilepsy
View profile
Daniel France
Research Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Research Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
View profile
Yuankai Huo
Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Computer Engineering
View profile
E. Duco Jansen
Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Faculty Affairs, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Neurological Surgery
View profile
Nicholas Kavoussi
Assistant Professor, Department of Urology, Division of Endourology and Stone Disease
View profile
Soheil Kolouri
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
View profile
Bennett A Landman
Professor of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Chancellor Faculty Fellow, Director of Graduate Studies in Electrical Engineering
View profile
Alexander J Langerman
Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Director, Surgical Ethics Program. Course Director Foundations of Clinical Care Ethics Curriculum
View profile
Haoxiang Luo
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Associate Chair of Mechanical Engineering, Associate Professor of Otolaryngology
View profile
Anita Mahadevan-Jansen
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Orrin H. Ingram Professor of Engineering, Professor of Neurological Surgery, Director of Undergraduate Studies in Biomedical Engineering, Director of the Biophotonics Center at Vanderbilt
View profile
Michael I Miga
Harvie Branscomb Professor, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Professor of Neurological Surgery, Professor of Otolaryngology
View profile
Victoria L Morgan
Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Neurology, Professor of Neurological Surgery
View profile
Daniel Moyer
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
View profile
Jack Noble
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Director of Graduate Recruiting in Electrical Engineering
View profile
Keith Obstein
Associate Professor of Medicine
View profile
Ipek Oguz
Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Computer Engineering
View profile
Mikail Rubinov
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Assistant Professor of Psychology
View profile
Nabil Simaan
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Professor of Computer Science, Professor of Otolaryngology
View profile
Yuankai Kenny Tao
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
View profile
Wesley P. Thayer
Professor of Plastic Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery, Vice Chair, Research
View profile
Michael Topf
Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
View profile
Rei Ukita
Research Assistant Professor of Cardiac Surgery
View profile
Robert James Webster
Richard A. Schroeder Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Professor of Otolaryngology, Professor of Neurological Surgery, Professor of Urologic Surgery, Professor of Medicine
View profile
James Weimer
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
View profile
Matthew Weinger
Professor of Anesthesiology, Biomedical Informatics, and Medical Education
View profile
Jie Ying Wu
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
View profile
Junzhong Xu
Associate Professor, Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Physics and Astronomy
View profile
Maizie Zhou
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
View profile
Industry Educational Advisory Board
Stephen Aylward, PhD
NVIDIA
Steven Boronyak, PhD
AtriCure
Shikha Chaganti, PhD
Siemens Healthineers
Steve Chen, MBA
Roche
Rachel Clipp, PhD
Kitware Inc
Jarrod Collins, PhD
Inari Medical
Josephine Granna, PhD
Stryker
Rebekah Griesenauer, PhD
DANNCE.ai
Brandon Harrison
Staubli
Steve Hartmann, PhD
Medtronic
Brandon Hoffman, MBA
Nissha Medical Technologies
Christopher Jarrett, PhD, MBA
Salesforce Inc., Healthcare and Life Science
Petr Jordan, PhD
Onc AI
David Leong, PhD
Analogic
Michael Mellor, MS
Analog Devices
Srivatsan Pallavaram, PhD
Abbott Neuromodulation
Piotr Slawinksi,PhD
Noah Medical
Jim Stefansic, PhD, MBA
OmniBuds, Inc
Jaime Tierney Stanton, PhD
RIVANNA
Elizabeth Vasconcellos, MS
ClearPoint Neuro
Jay West, PhD
THINK Surgical, Inc
Jing Zhao, PhD
Medtronic
Contact Information
For inquiries and more information, please contact:
Program Directors:
Jon S. Heiselman, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
jon.s.heiselman@vanderbilt.edu
615-322-1936
Michael Miga, Ph.D.
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
mike.miga@vanderbilt.edu
615-875-8386
Program Manager:
Michelle Bukowski
michelle.bukowski@vanderbilt.edu