Biomedical Engineering Graduate Programs

Master’s Degree

Criteria Applicable for the Acceptance of the Students to the Master's Program:

a) Bachelor's Diploma and Tests:

1) The students should have scored at least 55 standard points in the applicable score type of the program applied for, in Academic Graduate Education Entrance Exam (ALES) held by Assessment, Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM), and should hold a bachelor’s diploma.* International GRE (Graduate Record Examinations) and GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) scores are also acceptable as replacements for ALES scores. However, such scores should meet the minimum score levels announced by the Council of Higher Education as equivalents of ALES scores. These score levels can be increased through a decision of the Board of Directors of the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences.

* The following 4 groups of students are given priority in terms of applications for the Biomedical Engineering Master's Program:

  1. 1st Group: Graduates of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Food Engineering, Environment Engineering, and Bio-Engineering departments at Faculties of Engineering.
  2. 2nd Group: Graduates of Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Molecular Biology and Genetics, and Statistics departments at the Faculties of Science.
  3. 3rd Group: Graduates of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology departments at the Faculties of Education.
  4. 4th Group: Graduates of Schools of Medicine, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dentistry, and Veterinary Medicine at universities.

Furthermore, the program also accepts students who hold degrees from other disciplines, which allows transition to the Biomedical Engineering Master's Program. The departments the graduates of which are admissible to the program will be specified at the beginning of each semester, with the approval of the faculty members of the department, the proposal of the department chair, and the decision of the Board of Directors of the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences.

2) The students will be required to have received a score of at least 50 over a scale of 100 in the Inter-University Foreign Language Exam (UDS) or Government Personnel Foreign Language Proficiency Exam (KPDS), or the foreign language proficiency exam applied by the university; or an an equivalent score on internationally recognized TOEFL and IELTS exams, and to submit the score certificate at the time of submitting application.

b) Interviews

During the admissions process, the prospective students are evaluated through an interview. The interviews are conducted by juries. The interview juries are composed of at least three original and two substitute members proposed by the department chair from among faculty members, and approved through a decision by the board of directors of the graduate school. The procedures will be executed by the department chair and the Director of the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences.

c) Evaluation

A candidate who applied for the program and who was interviewed should get at least an overall score of 55 for admission into the program. The performance of the candidate is established on the basis of her overall score. The overall score is calculated by adding 25% of the candidate’s ALES score, 50% of the GPA for the bachelor’s degree on a scale of 100, and 25% of the Foreign Language Proficiency Score (or the equivalent scores applied by the university for international foreign language proficiency exams such as TOEFL or IELTS). Candidates who received 55 or higher overall scores on a scale of 100 will then be ranked by the interview jury, on the basis of the overall score. The board of directors of the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences then decides on the principal and substitute candidates admitted into the program on the basis of the quota of the program and the overall scores the candidates got.

The admission of students on full or partial scholarship, or with tuition shall be based on the principles specified in TOBB ETÜ Graduate Studies and Exams Regulation and Graduate Scholarship Students Directive.

The must and elective courses to be taken, and the minimum credit count required for a master's degree

In the master's programs with dissertation, the student should successfully complete the course load of at least 21 (twenty one) credits (excluding the courses required under the scientific preparation program), as well as a seminar, and should defend her thesis successfully. The seminar and dissertation studies are no-credit courses and evaluated as either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Provided that they were not taken during the student’s undergraduate education, a maximum of two 4XX undergraduate courses can be taken by the student within the framework of the program.

The graduate courses offered within the framework of the Biomedical Engineering Master's Program are listed below. The specific courses to be offered in a given semester will be determined through the proposal of the Department Committee, and the Decision of the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, at the beginning of each semester. The students can either take the courses stipulated in the curriculum, or other undergraduate or graduate courses offered by the relevant departments of the university or other universities, with the approval of the Biomedical Engineering Department, in order to meet their credit requirements. The number of courses which can be taken from outside the university will be set by the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences.

The students registered in the Master's Program are required to take enough courses to meet the 21 credits requirement. The students must meet this credit requirement within the time frame stipulated in the relevant regulation and directive, by taking required must and elective courses.

  • FBE 600 Scientific Research Techniques and Publication Ethics (no credit - must)

Upon completing the course load, the students will be required to write a dissertation under the supervision of the advisor to be assigned board of directors of the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences upon the proposal of the Department. The students who complete the program are awarded “Biomedical Engineering Master's Degree” diplomas.

The decision on which students are to be directed to the Scientific Preparation Program, and which courses are to be offered as must courses and electives rests with the Biomedical Engineering Department.

In case the information provided here contradicts with the announcements made by the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, the information provided by the latter shall have precedence. You can visit https://www.etu.edu.tr/tr/enstitu/fen-bilimleri-enstitusu/basvuru-bilgileri for detailed information.

Courses offered within the framework of the master’s program:

Course code

BMM 501

Course name

Fundamentals of biomedical engineering

BMM 502

Course name

Fundamentals of Engineering Sciences

BMM 503

Course name

Biological Sciences

BMM 504

Course name

Functional Neuroimaging

BMM 505

Course name

Mathematics of Engineering

BMM 506

Course name

Digital Methods in Engineering

BMM 510

Course name

Advanced Topics in Medical Imaging

BMM 511

Course name

Ultrasound Imaging

BMM 512

Course name

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

BMM 513

Course name

Processing of Audio Signals and Medical Practices

BMM 514

Course name

Processing of Sleep Signals

BMM 521

Course name

Bioinformatics

BMM 522

Course name

Biological Databases and Data Mining

BMM 530

Course name

Current Issues in Tissue Engineering

BMM 531

Course name

Advanced Topics in Hard Tissue Engineering

BMM 540

Course name

Advanced Topics on Biomaterials

BMM 541

Course name

Advanced Pharmaceutical Transfers

BMM 542

Course name

Advanced Topics in Nano-medicine

BMM 550

Course name

Advanced Biomechanics

BMM 551

Course name

Clinical Biomechanics of the Spine

BMM 560

Course name

Medical IT

BMM 561

Course name

Database Management System for Health Services

BMM 570

Course name

Nano-biosensors

BMM 580

Course name

Advanced Biochemistry

BMM 581

Course name

Advanced Molecular Biology and Genetics

BMM 582

Course name

Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology

BMM 583

Course name

Transfers in Biological Systems

BMM 584

Course name

Chemical Reaction Engineering and Modeling

BMM 596

Course name

Special Topics

BMM 597

Course name

Seminar

BMM 599

Course name

Master's Thesis

FBE 600

Course name

Scientific Research Techniques and Publication Ethics

Course code

Course name

BMM 501

Fundamentals of biomedical engineering

BMM 502

Fundamentals of Engineering Sciences

BMM 503

Biological Sciences

BMM 504

Functional Neuroimaging

BMM 505

Mathematics of Engineering

BMM 506

Digital Methods in Engineering

BMM 510

Advanced Topics in Medical Imaging

BMM 511

Ultrasound Imaging

BMM 512

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

BMM 513

Processing of Audio Signals and Medical Practices

BMM 514

Processing of Sleep Signals

BMM 521

Bioinformatics

BMM 522

Biological Databases and Data Mining

BMM 530

Current Issues in Tissue Engineering

BMM 531

Advanced Topics in Hard Tissue Engineering

BMM 540

Advanced Topics on Biomaterials

BMM 541

Advanced Pharmaceutical Transfers

BMM 542

Advanced Topics in Nano-medicine

BMM 550

Advanced Biomechanics

BMM 551

Clinical Biomechanics of the Spine

BMM 560

Medical IT

BMM 561

Database Management System for Health Services

BMM 570

Nano-biosensors

BMM 580

Advanced Biochemistry

BMM 581

Advanced Molecular Biology and Genetics

BMM 582

Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology

BMM 583

Transfers in Biological Systems

BMM 584

Chemical Reaction Engineering and Modeling

BMM 596

Special Topics

BMM 597

Seminar

BMM 599

Master's Thesis

FBE 600

Scientific Research Techniques and Publication Ethics

BMM-501 Fundamentals of Biomedical Engineering (3–0) 3

The course covers introduction to biomedical sciences and the concepts of engineering, biomaterials, bio-electricity (bio-electric events, biomedical systems and processes, biomedical signal and image processing, biomedical instrumentation, medical imaging modeling), biomechanics, biosensors, biomolecules (molecular structure, metabolic engineering, complex signalization and regulatory route analysis, molacular-scale genetic and biologic transformations, and the manupulation and medical applications of biomolecules), tissue engineering, pharmaceutical transfers and nano-medicine.

BMM-502 Fundamentals of Engineering Sciences (3–0) 3

The course covers conservation of mass and energy, transfer events, thermodynamics, mathematical foundations of physiological systems, time and frequency range review of physiological signals, principles of image processing.

BMM– 503 Biological Sciences (3–0) 3

The course will provide information on cell biology and physiology, biomolecules (proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, carbohydrates), bio-energetics and metabolism, genetic materials, genetic information flow, bio-signalization, neural signalling and the structure of the nervous system, skeletal system, physiology of muscles, and cardio-vascular physiology.

BMM-504 Fonksiyonel Nörogörüntüleme (3-0) 3 

Human brain anatomy, cortical and subcortical structures, important sulci and gyri. Fundamentals of Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging, MR physics, MR signal generation, MR image generation, Contrast mechanisms (T1, T2, PD, T2*), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); Neuronal activity and hemodynamic activity, BOLD fMRI, Signal, noise concept and preprocessing in fMRI data, Experimental design and statistical analysis (General Linear Model) in fMRI, fMRI applications and advanced techniques. Fundamentals of Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). fNIRS system types, instrumentation, data analysis and advanced techniques. Fundamentals of Electroencephalography (EEG), EEG data analysis and advanced techniques.

BMM-505 Mathematics of Engineering (3–0) 3

The course covers differential equations, quick solutions to differential equations, Fourier series, Fourier transform and Fourier integral, partial differential equations, variable sorting and special functions such as Gamma, Bessel, and Laguerre, as well as their areas of use.

BMM-506 Digital Methods in Engineering (3–0) 3

The course will provide general information on digital methods and algorithms, and applied information on current topics such as diffusion, bioinformatics, molecular dynamics, and homology modeling, with a view to ensuring the adaptation of the students to this area of rapid development. This course will focus specifically on basic algorithm authoring/interpreting techniques, and the structural modeling of proteins.

BMM– 510  Advanced Topics in Medical Imaging

Basic concepts of medical imaging; signals and systems; imaging metrics; x-ray imaging systems: radiography and computer-assisted tomography; nuclear imaging: SPECT and PET, magnetic resonance, ultrasound imaging.

BMM– 511  Ultrasound Imaging

Acoustic wave dissonance, acoustic wave damping, acoustic converters, acoustic cluster creation, acoustic clusters and array creation, wave dispersion and imaging, tissue imaging, imaging systems, doppler ultrasound, non-linear effects and imaging, contrast agents, hyperthermia.

BMM– 512  Magnetic Resonance Imaging

MR physics, super-conductor magnets, MR hardware, software used for MR, MR coils, MR sequences, image creation methods with MR, processing MR images, the health effects of magnetic fields, fMRI and advanced topics.

BMM– 513  Processing of Audio Signals and Medical Practices

Generation and detection of sound; mathematical foundations of sound; coding of sound signals; time-domain analysis for sound signals; frequency-domain analysis for sound signals; wavelet transformation of sound signals; modifying the time-scale for speech signals; modifying the tone of speech signals; synthesis of speech signals; sound recognition algorithms; objective and subjective methods for assessing the quality of sound; human element in evaluating speech signals; analysis of the snoring sounds of sleep apnea patients and the review of snoring effectiveness; the impact of otorhinolaryngology operations on changing sound.

BMM– 514  Processing of Sleep Signals

Physiology of sleep, physiological signal development, stages of sleep, sleep apnea, classification of sleep signals, sleep laboratory and polysomnography records, EKG signals and processing, EEG signals and processing, emg signals and processing, processing of breathing and snoring signals, EOG signals and processing, analysis of oxygen saturation and change.

BMM– 521 Bioinformatics (3–0) 3

Introduction to the concepts and methods in the field of bioinformatics. Sequence and structure alignment, estimation of protein structures, protein folding, pretein-protein interaction, Monte-Carlo emulation and molecular dynamics.

BMM– 522  Biological Databases and Data Mining (3–0) 3

Introduction to database management systems (PostgresSQL) and statistics software (R). Introduction to different data types. Data mining and machine learning methods.

BMM– 530  Current Issues in Tissue Engineering (3–0) 3

Information will be provided on extracellular matrix and tissue architecture, analogues of extracellular matrix, cell-biomaterial interaction, bio-compatible materials and design thereof, tissue modeling, tissue replacement, tissue induction, cell transplantation, patents on tissue engineering and ethics, followed by a discussion of current practices.

BMM– 531 Advanced Topics in Hard Tissue Engineering (3–0) 3  

This course will venture into details of enhancing the bioactivity and biocompatibility of implants and prosthetic substrates often used in biomedical engineering practices, through modifications including but not limited to steam coating, abrasion, and nanotechnology elements.

BMM-540 Advanced Topics on Biomaterials (3–0) 3

This course will particularly focus on the biomaterials used to repair or replace soft and hard tissue, and in the design of medical devices. Within the framework of the course; The interactions of biomaterials with live tissue, and their behavior inside the body, along with biocompatibility and biodegradation will be discussed. The analysis of the breakdown and failure processes to arise through biological reaction to biomaterials will be investigated. The legal compatibility and performance requirements applicable to commercialization of biomaterials and medical devices will be discussed.

BMM– 541 Advanced Pharmaceutical Transfers (3-0) 3  

Barriers (blood-brain barrier etc.) which play a role in pharmaceutical transfers, and liposomes, micelle, polymeric and inorganic-based controlled and smart pharmaceutical transfer systems will be discussed. Furthermore, factors playing a major role in pharmaceutical design and the transfer of pharmaceuticals and genes using non-conventional methods will be reviewed within the framework of the course.

BMM– 542  Advanced Topics in Nano-medicine (3-0) 3  

The course will discuss theranostic nanotechnology applications, production processes for nano-carriers entailing engineering methods, the importance of nanotechnology applications in diagnostic systems, photodynamic therapy, and nanoagents which can be integrated with biomaterials.

BMM– 550  Advanced Biomechanics

The students who take the course will be introduced to advanced topics in biomechanics, on top of the foundations they have with respect to fundamental principles of biomechanics. The structure, components, and mechanical characteristics of the bone, the biological factors establishing such mechanical characteristics, the mineral density of the bones, the means to identify the mechanical characteristics, the mechanics of viscoelastic objects, and experimental biomechanics will be discussed during the course. Furthermore, soft-tissue mechanics, identification of soft-tissue characteristics, and the biological factors affecting these characteristics are also covered by the course.

BMM– 551 Clinical Biomechanics of the Spine

Physical characteristics and functional biomechanics of the spine. Kinematics of the spine. Biomechanics of scoliosis Biomechanics of kyphosis Biomechanics of spinal trauma Instability problems in human spine. Cervical and thoracic problems. Lombral and sacral problems. Clinical biomechanics of spinal pains. Functional analysis and clinical application of spine connections. Biomechanical assessment of the surgical management of spinal phenomena. Mechanical analysis of spinal osteotomies.

BMM– 560  Bioinformatics (3–0) 3

The course covers a number of issues concerning the implementation of information technologies in medical services and medical institutions. Also investigated are the gathering, conversion, and machine-readable storage of data. Medical systems will be investigated from a number of distinct perspectives. The effects of electronic medical records, and the mobile considerations in medical service systems are also covered.

BMM- 561 Database Management System for Health Services (3–0) 3

The design of databases to be used in medical services, database architectures, normalization techniques, forms of file and access, query and update languages, data integrity, use of medical record systems and database applications to support medical service systems.

BMM– 570  Nanobiosensors (3–0) 3

Definitions. Mechanisms of interaction between analytes-biomolecules, signal types, converter types, preparation of biosensor surfaces, immobilization mechanisms, preparation of the discerning layer, discerning layer - converter integration, performance parameters of biosensors, applications and areas of potential research.

BMM– 580  Advanced Biochemistry (3–0) 3

Fundamentals of proteins, carbohydrates and glicobiology, lipids, biological membranes and transfers, nucleic acids, biosignalization, bioenergetics and metabolism (carbohydrate, fat and protein mechanisms) will be discussed along with examples concerning medicine and health.

BMM– 581  Advanced Molecular Biology and Genetics (3–0) 3

The course will provide information on the structure and replication of DNA, genetic mutations, eukaryotic gene and chromosome structure, transcriptional and post-transcription checks of gene expression, epigenetics and isolation and imaging of DNA, DNA sequence analysis, PCR, DNA fingerprint, and the techniques to identify mutation and polymorphism.

BMM– 582  Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology (3–0) 3

The course will discuss the relationship between the drug and the receptor, dosage-response link, means of intake for toxic materials, factors affecting toxic response, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, the role of the enzymes in the metabolism of drugs, pharmacogenetics, phases of drug development, toxicity tests, genotoxic effect, and teratogenity, along with examples of toxicity.

BMM– 583  Transfers in Biological Systems (3–0) 3

Momentum Transfer: Viscosity and Newton’s Law, Continuity, Movement and Mechanical Energy Equations. Energy Transfer: Heat Conductivity and Fourier’s Law. Energy Equivalency. Mass Transfer: Diffusivity and Fick’s Law. Dual and Multi-Component Systems. The application of Momentum, Energy and Mass Transfer Equations on biological systems.

BMM– 584  Chemical Reaction Engineering and Modeling (3–0) 3

The importance of change and kinetics in atomic and molecular structures, types of reactions, parallel and serial reactions, the impact of parameters, the concept of retention period and its association with kinetic factors, introduction to reactor design, steady state equations, 0, 1, 2 and other kinetic levels, non-steady state equations, ideal comparative systems, serial systems and feedback, ideal immiscible systems, mathematical CSTR-PF simulation, serial and parallel uses of PF-CSTR and optimization. Reactors Containing Free and Arrested Enzymes.

BMM-596 Special Topics

This course is dedicated to the theoretical studies and applied work on topics Master’s Students choose in fields requiring specialization. The courses are offered by faculty members specializing on that field.

BMM– 597 Seminar

The seminars offered by graduate students, on their own study and research fields. These courses can be taken with credits for just once. However, the graduate students are required to be enrolled in these courses throughout all semesters of enrollment in the Biomedical Engineering Master's Program, albeit on a non-credit basis.

Doctorate