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Yale University via Coursera

Introduction to Medical Software

4.8298 ratings at Coursera

Overview

In this class, we present a broad overview of the field of medical software. You will learn from Yale professors and a series of industry experts who connect the course concepts to their real world applications.

We begin by discussing medical device regulatory structures, data privacy and cybersecurity regulations, and key support technologies such quality management systems and risk management. We then take a detailed look at the medical software life cycle, starting with identifying user needs, mapping these to system requirements and then the process of software design, coding, testing and validation. We continue by exploring issues related to the use of machine learning techniques in medical applications from both a software engineering and a regulatory perspective. We conclude with a discussion of the business and management issues in this area focusing on the impact on digital health on modern healthcare and issues related to starting new ventures.

This is a class aimed at either third- or fourth-year undergraduates in computer science, biomedical engineering, and related fields, and to junior software engineers currently either working in, or interested in moving to, the medical device industry.

Syllabus 14

  1. Introduction to Medical Software and Digital Health 3 hours

    Welcome to week one of our Introduction to Medical Software class. Here we will set the set the stage for what will come in the rest of the course. This week will introduce what medical software is, and we will discuss relevant regulatory issues. We will also dive into the opportunities in medical…

  2. Medical Software Regulation (FDA and IMDRF) 3 hours

    Welcome to week two of our introduction to Medical Software class. Our focus is this week is going to be on the regulatory aspects of medical software. What are the procedures one must follow? What is the process that they follow? We will discuss some emerging issues when it comes to things like ar…

  3. The Healthcare Environment (EHR, PACS, Data Privacy, and Cybersecurity) 4 hours

    Welcome to week three of our introduction to Medical Software class. In this week's lectures, we will look at the clinical environment and the constraints that come with it. We will look at constraints that come from the environment itself, the stakeholders involved, and also the associated technol…

  4. Quality and Risk Management 2 hours

    In this week’s lectures we will talk about two management technologies that support the development of medical software: quality management systems and risk management.

  5. Software Development Life Cycle 2.5 hours

    This week, we will start looking at the design of software and introduce the medical software life cycle. In particular, we will introduce the international standard for medical software life cycles IEC 62304 and provide a guided tour of the process. We will also introduce our example project which…

  6. User Needs & System Requirements 2 hours

    In this week's segments, we will focus on user needs and the system requirements specification process. We will discuss how to identify user needs and how to communicate with medical experts. In the second half of this week's segments, we will describe the systems requirements specification documen…

  7. Software Architecture Design and Usability Engineering 3.5 hours

    This week, we will primarily focus on the process of designing the software, i.e. the creation of a plan that will allows us to from requirements to something that now can be implemented on a computer. We will also discuss usability engineering -- the process of designing user interfaces to improve…

  8. Construction and Testing 2 hours

    In this week, we get to the most concrete components of the medical software lifecycle, coding and testing. In many ways, this is the part of the lifecycle that is most similar to any other kind of software engineering you may have had exposure to. We will present some advice on coding, especially…

  9. Probability and Statistics 2 hours

    This week, we will take a detour from the software lifecycle process to cover some mathematical background before returning to the software lifecycle next week when we talk about software validation. The goal of this week is to introduce key concept from probability and statistics. We will talk abo…

  10. Software Validation, Deployment, Maintenance and Retirement 3 hours

    This week, we will cover the last steps in the medical software lifecycle. We will spend most of our time talking about validation, where we will also present a brief introduction to clinical trials. We will also have short segments discussing deployment, maintenance, and retirement.

  11. Machine Learning 5 hours

    In this week's lectures, we focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning, the use of this technology, the challenges they produce as we integrate them into software, and the challenges of regulating these technologies in order to protect patients and caregivers.

  12. Business and Management Issues 3.5 hours

    In this section of our course, we will step away from the technical aspects that you have been learning and really think about how to get your medical software or your lab prototype out into the hands of people in the real world. For those of you interested in enterpreneurship, it is just as import…

  13. Optional Supplement: Case Studies 2.5 hours

    In this optional supplementary module we will present examples of what happens when software development goes wrong. When this class is taught at Yale, the students are assigned to present these (and other) case studies in small groups. We follow this tradition for the online class as the case stud…

  14. Optional Supplement: Expert Interviews 10 minutes

    Throughout the creation of this course, Prof. Papademetris conducted interviews with an array of industry experts. Many of these conversations apply to multiple of the weeks' topics - please take a look and enjoy!

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

  • Structured courses with graded quizzes, assignments and deadlines you can reset.
  • A shareable certificate from the university or company when you pay.
  • Financial aid is often approved for students in India (apply 15 days before you need it).
  • Taught by Yale University, one of the strongest names in its field.
  • Rated 4.8 out of 5 by 298 learners.
  • Self-paced: start any time.
  • A clear syllabus (14 parts) you can see before you start.
  • Hands-on: you build or practise, not just watch.

Disadvantages

  • Paid after a 7-day free trial (Coursera Plus or per course).
  • Some courses can be audited for free, but graded work and certificates need payment.
  • A big commitment: about 12 weeks of study, 5-7 hours/week in all.

Some points apply to every course of this kind; see how we rank.

This course is paid. Here is how to take it for free

  • Free trials: You can start a 7-day free trial for many individual courses, Specializations, or a Coursera Plus subscription to test full course features. Cancel before the seventh day if you do not want to be charged.
  • Financial aid: If you cannot afford the fee for a certificate, you can apply for financial aid through the link on the course home page by filling out an application about your background and goals.

Taught by

  • Xenophon PapademetrisProfessor, Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

Yale University is in Tier 1: world-leading universities and India's top institutes of our institution ranking (95/100).

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