Implantable and Wearable Neuroengineering Education: A Review of Postgraduate Programmes

Abstract

Neurological diseases (NDs) such as epilepsy, dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease currently affect almost two thirds of Europe's population. Furthermore, enormous financial commitments are required to deal with these diseases. Therefore, there is growing concern that countries with transitional economies may struggle to handle this financial burden, which warrants the urgent development of new technologies for early disease identification and treatment. Consequently, the aim of our article is to survey the range of postgraduate programmes that strive to nurture neuroengineering graduates who will excel in designing and developing implantable and wearable technologies for ND applications. Based on the basic building blocks of these technologies, we have identified four key areas that programmes need to cover, which include Neuroscience, Integrated Circuits, Communications and Signal Processing as well as Electronic Devices. According to our systematic review, a total of fifteen institutes satisfied our search criteria and provided the necessary neuroengineering training. The majority of these programmes are located in Europe and North America, which means that cross border and interdisciplinary efforts are required to develop educational programmes in countries most vulnerable to these diseases. We also provide recommendations for how these programmes can be delivered using non-traditional teaching approaches to ensure that graduates develop the necessary soft skills required by the constantly shifting job market.

Keywords

• Neuroengineering
• wearables
• implantables
• engineering education