Keywords: Medical technology - Innovation, Information communication and networking - Wireless, Clinical translation challenges
Abstract: Veracity, value, viscosity, validity, volatility, variability, and viability have characterized data during the last decade with the extensive use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to research, discover and interpret knowledge within data, transforming mining into analytics. The revolution of data and connectivity of the 21st century left behind one of the most fragile parts of our planet and yet to be connected. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 120,372 species were assessed in 2020, with 20% categorized as “data deficient”.1,2 When a species is categorized as data deficient that prevents the species from appearing in the Red List of endangered animals and therefore that species does not receive the attention needed for preservation and conservation. It is not only wild exotic animals that lack data for a better understanding of their habit, anatomy, physiology and health; Some species already extinct in the wild have been preserved in zoos. Recently, zoos have become a great researchable source of collections of captive unique and irreplaceable species and represent a fundamental key in the progress of conservation. The development of novel technologies through data and information may enable professionals such as veterinarians and zoologists to understand animal behavioural and physiological responses with a depth never before studied, thus playing an important role in species conservation. This symposium aims to present the technological challenges veterinarians, biologists and zoologists face when caring for exotic animals in the wild or in captivity and how technology is enabling the improvement of animal welfare by promoting the preservation and protection of endangered species. Monitoring exotic animal patients can be a very challenging task due to their unique anatomy, physiology and habitat.

Keywords: Career development in BME, Novel approaches to BME education, Instruction and learning
Abstract: For many of us oral presentations can be the prime means for communicating our ideas and our research, not only to our peers, but also to our employers and to potential customers. As students, you are no exception the prospect of an oral presentation can be daunting, the pressure is on to make a good impression with your research. That we are scientists presenting sometimes very complicated scientific ideas and results need not necessarily be a recipe for a sleep inducing "death by PowerPoint" presentation, rather there are simple ways in which we can all try and make our presentations effective and captivating. This session aims to give you some all-round pointers on preparing and delivering an effective presentation that best conveys your ideas smoothly, understandably and, most important, succinctly.

Keywords: Cardiovascular and respiratory system modeling - Cardiovascular-Respiratory Interactions, Cardiovascular and respiratory system modeling - Sleep-cardiorespiratory Interactions, Cardiovascular and respiratory system modeling - Cerebrovascular models
Abstract: Over the past decades determining the cause and effect, or the driven-response relationship, between physiological systems has grown in relevance to understand among others, the underlying control of the autonomic and central nervous systems in health and disease. To undertake the problem, the analysis of physiological variability time series has moved from the univariate to bivariate and, to multivariate type to discover the complex interactions between human body subsystems. Relevant features to obtain from the cause-effect analysis are the direction, the strength, and the frequency band, among others. In light of recent approaches, most fundamental cardiovascular and respiratory interactions, as the baroreflex and respiratory sinus arrhythmia, have been revisited under different stress conditions and diseases to obtain meaningful characterization of physiological processes. The number of research papers to determine causality and coupling has notably increased as well as the applications to different experimental protocols. The idea behind this minisymposium is to bring together emerging and developed approaches as well as applications in health and disease to highlight possible trends in the field and new insights of physiological systems interactions.

Keywords: Physiological systems modeling - Signal processing in physiological systems, Signal pattern classification, Time-frequency and time-scale analysis - Time-frequency analysis
Abstract: Nowadays, it is recognized that self and remote monitoring of physiological and parameters is relevant to detect health diseases on time. Conventionally, the monitoring and processing of such signals and parameters are performed using specialized biomedical systems. However, those systems are not always available outside clinical and research centers or have prohibitive costs for their daily use by the general population. As alternative solutions, the employment of mobile health, wearable and robotic systems for health care monitoring could help to overcome such limitations given their ubiquitous and mobile characteristics and the current need for monitoring systems that enable a more frequent and earlier monitoring to improve detection of diseases as well as to reduce the burden on health care systems. We aim to discuss recent developments on the employment of mobile health systems for estimating physiological parameters, employing the cost-effective sensors already embedded in mobile devices together with wearable and robotic systems. First, a smartphone-based system for the simultaneous estimation of instantaneous heart and respiratory rates using contact image photoplethysmography (PPG), will be presented. Second, a novel image processing method and an inclusive and affordable screening tool to detect streptococcal pharyngitis using a smartphone, will be presented. Third, the results of a method for central nervous system oxygen toxicity using electrodermal activity, which is intended for being incorporated into a system based on a wearable device and a smartphone application, will be presented. Fourth, a method to reduce the vulnerability to motion and noise artifacts on smartphone-based physiological signals during heart rhythm signal detection, will be presented. Finally, the design of a robot-based device for active and autonomous instantaneous heart rate estimation using remote PPG sensors mounted on a robot, will be presented.

Keywords: Bio-electric sensors - Sensing methods, Physiological monitoring - Modeling and analysis, Modeling and analysis
Abstract: Special Session on Bioimpedance is structured as a platform for presenting recent scientific achievements and developments in the area of electrical bioimpedance. It represents an international foro for scients, academic, undergraduate and graduate students in the field of bioengineering to best understand breakdown bioimpedance applications in the biomedical field. Invited speakers are a well-organized international team of professors and students to present their most relevant scientific findings. Main applications are focus on the biosensors design for molecular markers and DNA, bioinstrumentation, mathematical modelling, tissue and biological fluids characterization as well as user-interfaces programing. In addition the session is an open room, thus contributions in the bioimpedance field in order to feedback and academic network establishment are welcome.

Keywords: Biomedical engineering curricula, Teaching design, Novel approaches to BME education
Abstract: The field of BME is ever expanding. It can be argued that it started with the construction of prosthetic devices and medical instruments and now encompasses fields as diverse as health informatics, cell, molecular and tissue engineering, among others. This field is so wide that now IEEE EMBC divides the conference into 12 themes.

These two special sessions on undergraduate education deals with the discussion of the challenges of maintaining a diverse, multidisciplinary approach to BME education at a time where there is a lot of pressure to provide human resources for the sales, maintenance and service portions of the BM industry while educators are interested in not forgetting that the core of the discipline should be engineering design applied to advance the quality of life for all people.

The first part of this session will deal with the question of curricular structures, whether it is best to have a pyramidal approach, with two years of basic sciences and engineering, followed by more specialized courses in BME or to have an embedded engineering design curriculum as a backbone of the undergraduate degree in BME.

The second session will deal with the question whether to establish the aim to provide specialization in the final years of the program in one of the themes mentioned above, or to ensure that the students have an exposure to a wide variety of approaches and themes during their undergraduate study.

Other questions that will be addressed will be how best to prepare students for real-life work, and how this should affect the BME curriculum. For example, how to balance the emphasis o traditional electrical engineering subjects (the never-ending quest to balance breadth v depth) when work practices nowadays involve a lot of work in multidisciplinary teams.

The session will include contributions from professors and program coordinators from different institutions that will weigh in on how to approach these challenges in the next few years.

Keywords: Biomedical engineering curricula, Teaching design, Novel approaches to BME education
Abstract: The field of BME is ever expanding. It can be argued that it started with the construction of prosthetic devices and medical instruments and now encompasses fields as diverse as health informatics, cell, molecular and tissue engineering, among others. This field is so wide that now IEEE EMBC divides the conference into 12 themes.

This special session on undergraduate education deals with the discussion of the challenges of maintaining a diverse, multidisciplinary approach to BME education at a time where there is a lot of pressure to provide human resources for the sales, maintenance and service portions of the BM industry while educators are interested in not forgetting that the core of the discipline should be engineering design applied to advance the quality of life for all people.

The first part of this session will focused on how to prepare our new BME generation, due to the recent global changes and challenges such as: (Pandemia, continuing education on line, generating innovative technical solutions in a very short time span, quality and safety devices now needed, global regulations, new methods of design, implementation and evaluation of medical devices based on artificial intelligent tools, new job opportunities offered and new skills needed.) Specific topics will be: Safety issues in innovative medical devices, Regulatory science for medical devices incorporating artificial intelligence technologies, new skills needed for new job opportunities and new areas of innovation between industry and academia.

The second part will deal with the challenges to BME education in view of the emphasis on new biological developments and need for these to be put quickly into practice. The view will be that BME should no longer be viewed as a bridge between two disciplines, but will need to provide an integrative approach where both breadth and depth of knowledge will need to be taught concurrently.

Keywords: Clinical engineering - Health technology / system management and assessment, Clinical engineering - Device safety and efficacy evaluation (electrical safety, electromagnetic compatibility and immunity)
Abstract: Part II of the Special Sessions is a continuation of Part I, with the same title. Whereas Part I goes into details of first seven topics, Part II expands on the last three items. These Special Sessions cover several important steps that need to be address when launching a biomedical engineering start-up, including: • Medical device product development process • Raising funds for early-stage proof-of-concept work • SBIR funding, process and successful grant writing tips • Technology transfer: how to use it and how to benefit from it • Regulatory approval cycle (FDA, CE Mark, ISO 13485 certification) for new devices • Clinical trials process, requirements and strategies • Intellectual property (IP) roadmap for start-ups – proactive steps to help IP diligence go more smoothly during financing, acquisition or IPO diligence • Overview of patent process and costs in key commercial markets • Tips to improve patent application quality and to maximize value of IP portfolios in a cost-effective manner • Venture capital (VC) funding, process and sources.