The desire to achieve clinical ultra-high magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems stems from the fact that higher field strength leads to higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and spatial resolution. During last few years 7T MRI systems have become a quasi standard for ultra-high field MRI (UhFMRI) systems. This review presents a detailed account of opportunities and challenges associated with a clinical 7T MRI system for cranial and extracranial imaging. As with all of the previous transitions to higher field strengths, the switch from high to UhFMRI is not easy. The engineering and scientific community have to overcome challenges like magnetic field inhomogeneity, patient safety and comfort issues, and cost and related problems in order to achieve a clinically viable UhFMRI system. In addition, a large number of clinical studies are still required to show the improvements in quality of diagnostics that would come with 7T MRI, in order to bring such a research tool to the clinic.

Biomedical engineering (BME) is one of the fastest-growing engineering fields worldwide. BME professionals are extensively employed in the health technology and healthcare industries. Hence, their education must prepare them to face the challenge of a rapidly evolving technological environment. Biomedical signals and systems analysis is essential to BME undergraduate education. Unfortunately, students often underestimate the importance of their courses as they do not perceive these courses’ practical applications in their future professional practice. In this study, we propose using blended learning spaces to develop new learning experiences in the context of a biomedical signals and systems analysis course to enhance students’ motivation and interest and the relevance of the materials learned. We created a learning experience based on wearable devices and cloud-based collaborative development environments such that the students turned daily-life scenarios into experiential learning spaces. Overall, our results suggest a positive impact on the students’ perceptions of their learning experience concerning relevance, motivation, and interest. Namely, the evidence shows a reduction in the variability of such perceptions. However, further research must confirm this potential impact. This confirmation is required given the monetary and time investment this pedagogical approach would require if it were to be implemented at a larger scale.

Background: Bioinstrumentation is essential to biomedical engineering (BME) undergraduate education and professional practice. Several strategies have been suggested to provide BME students with hands-on experiences throughout the curriculum, promoting their preparedness to pursue careers in industry and academia while increasing their learning and engagement. This paper describes the implementation of challenge-based learning (CBL) in an undergraduate bioinstrumentation blended course over the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The CBL experience was implemented in a third-year bioinstrumentation course from the BME program at Tecnologico de Monterrey. Thirty-nine students enrolled in two sections formed fourteen teams that tackled blended learning activities, including online communication, lab experiments, and in-person CBL activities. Regarding the latter, students were challenged to design, prototype, and test a respiratory or cardiac gating device for radiotherapy. An institutional student opinion survey was used to assess the success of our CBL implementation. Results: Student responses to the end-of-term survey showed that they strongly agreed that this course challenged them to learn new concepts and develop new skills. Furthermore, they rated the student-lecturer interaction very positively despite the blended format. Overall, students assessed their learning experience positively. However, implementing this CBL experience required a substantial time increase in planning, student tutoring, and constant communication between lecturers and the industry partner. Conclusion: This work provides an effective instance of CBL for BME education to improve students’ learning experience despite decreased resource efficiency. Our claim is supported by the student’s performance and the positive feedback from our industrial partner.