Biomedical engineering: Difference between revisions

[[File:Операционная. ФЦН (Тюмень) 01.JPG|thumb|[[Telehealth|Telemedicine system]]. ''[[Federal Center of Neurosurgery (Tyumen)|Federal Center of Neurosurgery in Tyumen]], 2013'']]

[[File:Hemodialysismachine.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Hemodialysis]], a process of purifying the blood of a person whose [[kidneys]] are not working normally]]

== Subfields and related fields ==

=== Bioinformatics ===

{{Main|Bioinformatics}}

[[File:Microarray2.gif|thumb|Example of an approximately 40,000 probe spotted oligo [[microarray]] with enlarged inset to show detail]]

{{Main|Biomechanics}}

=== Biomaterials ===

=== Biomedical optics ===

{{Main|Medical optical imaging}}

=== Tissue engineering ===

Genetic engineering, recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification/manipulation (GM) and gene splicing are terms that apply to the direct manipulation of an organism's genes. Unlike traditional breeding, an indirect method of genetic manipulation, genetic engineering utilizes modern tools such as molecular cloning and transformation to directly alter the structure and characteristics of target genes. Genetic engineering techniques have found success in numerous applications. Some examples include the improvement of crop technology (''not a medical application'', but see [[biological systems engineering]]), the manufacture of synthetic human insulin through the use of modified bacteria, the manufacture of erythropoietin in hamster ovary cells, and the production of new types of experimental mice such as the oncomouse (cancer mouse) for research.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

=== Pharmaceutical engineering ===

== Hospital and medical devices ==

{{Main|Medical device|medical equipment|Medical technology}}

[[File:Schematic of silicone membrane oxygenator.jpg|thumb|Schematic of silicone membrane [[oxygenator]]]]

[[File:Opampinstrumentation.svg|right|thumb|Biomedical [[instrumentation amplifier]] schematic used in monitoring low voltage biological signals, an example of a biomedical engineering application of [[electronic engineering]] to [[electrophysiology]]]]

Medical devices are regulated and classified (in the US) as follows (see also ''Regulation''):

* Class III devices generally require premarket approval (PMA) or premarket notification (510k), a scientific review to ensure the device's safety and effectiveness, in addition to the general controls of Class I. Examples include replacement [[heart valves]], hip and knee joint implants, silicone gel-filled breast implants, implanted cerebellar stimulators, implantable pacemaker pulse generators and endosseous (intra-bone) implants.

Medical/biomedical imaging is a major segment of [[medical device]]s. This area deals with enabling clinicians to directly or indirectly "view" things not visible in plain sight (such as due to their size, and/or location). This can involve utilizing ultrasound, magnetism, UV, radiology, and other means.

[[File:brain chrischan.jpg|thumb|right|A T1-weighted [[MRI]] scan of a human head, an example of a biomedical engineering application of [[electrical engineering]] to [[diagnostic imaging]]. [[:Image:brain chrischan 300.gif|Click here]] to view an animated sequence of slices.]]Imaging technologies are often essential to medical diagnosis, and are typically the most complex equipment found in a hospital including: [[fluoroscopy]], [[magnetic resonance imaging]] (MRI), [[nuclear medicine]], [[positron emission tomography]] (PET), [[PET-CT scanning|PET-CT scans]], projection radiography such as [[X-ray]]s and [[CT scan]]s, [[tomography]], [[ultrasound]], [[optical microscopy]], and [[electron microscopy]].

An implant is a kind of medical device made to replace and act as a missing biological structure (as compared with a transplant, which indicates transplanted biomedical tissue). The surface of implants that contact the body might be made of a biomedical material such as titanium, silicone or apatite depending on what is the most functional. In some cases, implants contain electronics, e.g. artificial pacemakers and cochlear implants. Some implants are bioactive, such as subcutaneous drug delivery devices in the form of implantable pills or [[drug-eluting stent]]s.

=== Biomedical sensors ===

== Clinical engineering ==

== Rehabilitation engineering ==

[[File:UltrasoundBPH.jpg|right|thumb|250px|[[Ultrasound]] representation of [[urinary bladder]] (black butterfly-like shape) a hyperplastic [[prostate]]. An example of [[practical science]] and [[medical science]] working together.]]

The previous features have to be ensured for all the manufactured items of the medical device. This requires that a quality system shall be in place for all the relevant entities and processes that may impact safety and effectiveness over the whole medical device lifecycle.

[[File:Hip replacement Image 3684-PH.jpg|thumb|right|Implants, such as [[artificial hip]] joints, are generally extensively regulated due to the invasive nature of such devices.]]

The different regulatory arrangements sometimes result in particular technologies being developed first for either the U.S. or in Europe depending on the more favorable form of regulation. While nations often strive for substantive harmony to facilitate cross-national distribution, philosophical differences about the ''optimal extent'' of regulation can be a hindrance; more restrictive regulations seem appealing on an intuitive level, but critics decry the tradeoff cost in terms of slowing access to life-saving developments.

Biomedical engineers require considerable knowledge of both engineering and biology, and typically have a Bachelor's (B.Sc., B.S., B.Eng. or B.S.E.) or Master's (M.S., M.Sc., M.S.E., or M.Eng.) or a doctoral (Ph.D., or [[MD–PhD|MD-PhD]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=MD-PhD Program |url=https://www.bme.jhu.edu/academics/graduate/phd-program/md-phd-program/ |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129065223/https://www.bme.jhu.edu/academics/graduate/phd-program/md-phd-program/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=PhD+MD |url=https://engineering.dartmouth.edu/graduate/phd-md |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=Dartmouth Engineering |language=en |archive-date=2022-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129065222/https://engineering.dartmouth.edu/graduate/phd-md |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Physician-Engineer Training Program |url=https://engineering.purdue.edu/BME/Academics/Graduate/Degree_Certificate_Options/MDPhD/index_html |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering – Purdue University |language=en |archive-date=2022-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129065232/https://engineering.purdue.edu/BME/Academics/Graduate/Degree_Certificate_Options/MDPhD/index_html |url-status=live }}</ref>) degree in BME (Biomedical Engineering) or another branch of engineering with considerable potential for BME overlap. As interest in BME increases, many engineering colleges now have a Biomedical Engineering Department or Program, with offerings ranging from the undergraduate (B.Sc., B.S., B.Eng. or B.S.E.) to doctoral levels. Biomedical engineering has only recently been emerging as ''its own discipline'' rather than a cross-disciplinary hybrid specialization of other disciplines; and BME programs at all levels are becoming more widespread, including the [[Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering]] which includes enough biological science content that many students use it as a "[[pre-med]]" major in preparation for [[medical school]]. The number of biomedical engineers is expected to rise as both a cause and effect of improvements in medical technology.<ref>[http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics] – Profile for Engineers {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060219092732/http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm |date=February 19, 2006 }}</ref>

In Canada and Australia, accredited graduate programs in biomedical engineering are common.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goyal |first=Megh R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zyhFDwAAQBAJ |title=Scientific and Technical Terms in Bioengineering and Biological Engineering |date=2018-01-03 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-351-36035-7 |language=en |access-date=2023-05-05 |archive-date=2024-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726171640/https://books.google.com/books?id=zyhFDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, [[McMaster University]] offers an M.A.Sc, an MD/PhD, and a PhD in Biomedical engineering.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eng.mcmaster.ca/msbe/programs/degree-options |title=Degree Options |website=McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering |publisher=eng.mcmaster.ca |access-date=24 October 2019 |archive-date=24 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024195956/https://www.eng.mcmaster.ca/msbe/programs/degree-options |url-status=live }}</ref> The first Canadian [[undergraduate]] BME program was offered at [[University of Guelph]] as a four-year B.Eng. program.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uoguelph.ca/registrar/calendars/undergraduate/2010-2011/c10/c10beng-bme.shtml |publisher=University of Guelph |date=2010-09-07 |access-date=2024-04-07 |title=2010–2011 Undergraduate Calendar – Biomedical Engineering |archive-date=2024-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726171612/https://www.uoguelph.ca/registrar/calendars/undergraduate/2010-2011/c10/c10beng-bme.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> The Polytechnique in Montreal is also offering a bachelors's degree in biomedical engineering<ref>{{cite web |title=Baccalauréat en Génie biomédical |url=https://www.polymtl.ca/programmes/programmes/baccalaureat-en-genie-biomedical |access-date=11 October 2020 |website=Polytechnique Montréal |date=15 January 2018 |archive-date=12 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012165619/https://www.polymtl.ca/programmes/programmes/baccalaureat-en-genie-biomedical |url-status=live }}</ref> as is Flinders University.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bachelor of Engineering (Biomedical) (Honours)|url=https://www.flinders.edu.au/study/courses/bachelor-engineering-biomedical-honours|access-date=24 October 2019|publisher=Flinders University|archive-date=26 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726171618/https://www.flinders.edu.au/study/courses/bachelor-engineering-biomedical-honours|url-status=live}}</ref>

As with many degrees, the reputation and ranking of a program may factor into the desirability of a degree holder for either employment or graduate admission. The reputation of many undergraduate degrees is also linked to the institution's graduate or research programs, which have some tangible factors for rating, such as research funding and volume, publications and citations. With BME specifically, the ranking of a university's hospital and medical school can also be a significant factor in the perceived prestige of its BME department/program.

Graduate programs in BME, like in other scientific fields, are highly varied, and particular programs may emphasize certain aspects within the field. They may also feature extensive collaborative efforts with programs in other fields (such as the university's Medical School or other engineering divisions), owing again to the interdisciplinary nature of BME. M.S. and Ph.D. programs will typically require applicants to have an undergraduate degree in BME, or ''another engineering'' discipline (plus certain life science coursework), or ''life science'' (plus certain engineering coursework).

===Licensure/certification===

As with other learned professions, each state has certain (fairly similar) requirements for becoming licensed as a registered [[Professional Engineer]] (PE), but, in US, in industry such a license is not required to be an employee as an engineer in the majority of situations (due to an exception known as the industrial exemption, which effectively applies to the vast majority of American engineers). The US model has generally been only to require the practicing engineers offering engineering services that impact the public welfare, safety, safeguarding of life, health, or property to be licensed, while engineers working in private industry without a direct offering of engineering services to the public or other businesses, education, and government need not be licensed. This is notably not the case in many other countries, where a license is as legally necessary to practice engineering as it is for law or medicine.

The [[Fundamentals of Engineering exam]] – the first (and more general) of two licensure examinations for most U.S. jurisdictions—does now cover biology (although technically not BME). For the second exam, called the Principles and Practices, Part 2, or the Professional Engineering exam, candidates may select a particular engineering discipline's content to be tested on; there is currently not an option for BME with this, meaning that any biomedical engineers seeking a license must prepare to take this examination in another category (which does not affect the actual license, since most jurisdictions do not recognize discipline specialties anyway). However, the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) is, as of 2009, exploring the possibility of seeking to implement a BME-specific version of this exam to facilitate biomedical engineers pursuing licensure.

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* [[Earl Bakken]] (deceased) – Invented the first transistorised pacemaker, co-founder of [[Medtronic]].

* [[Forrest Bird]] (deceased) – aviator and pioneer in the invention of [[mechanical ventilator]]s

<!--Non-Notable name * [[Kenneth R. Diller]] – Chaired and Endowed Professor in [[Engineering]], [[University of Texas at Austin]].  Founded the BME department at UT Austin.  Pioneer in bioheat transfer, mass transfer, and biotransport -->

* [[Leslie A. Geddes|Leslie Geddes]] (deceased) – professor emeritus at [[Purdue University]], electrical engineer, inventor, and educator of over 2000 biomedical engineers, received a [[National Medal of Technology]] in 2006 from President George Bush<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pZJVE51Vao | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/2pZJVE51Vao| archive-date=2021-11-07 | url-status=live|title=Leslie Geddes – 2006 National Medal of Technology |via=YouTube |date=2007-07-31 |access-date=2011-09-24}}{{cbignore}}</ref> for his more than 50 years of contributions that have spawned innovations ranging from burn treatments to miniature defibrillators, ligament repair to tiny blood pressure monitors for premature infants, as well as a new method for performing [[cardiopulmonary resuscitation]] (CPR).

<!--Non-Notable name * [[Richard J. Johns]] – [http://ethw.org/Oral-History:Richard_J._Johns] Massey Professor and Director of [[Johns Hopkins University Biomedical Engineering]] at Johns Hopkins University, leading Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering 1965–1991 during its great expansion as a department in both the [[Johns Hopkins School of Medicine]] and [[Whiting School of Engineering]]. Johns was said to have been the first to coin the term [[Systems Biology]] as part of an Annual report in 1972–1973. -->

<!--Non-Notable name * [[Herbert Lissner]] (deceased) – Professor of Engineering Mechanics at [[Wayne State University]].  Initiated studies on blunt head trauma and injury thresholds beginning in 1939 in collaboration with E.S. Gurdjian, a neurosurgeon at Wayne State's School of Medicine.  Individual for whom the [[American Society of Mechanical Engineers]]' top award in Biomedical Engineering, the Herbert R. Lissner Medal, is named. -->

* [[John Macleod (physiologist)|John Macleod]] (deceased) – one of the co-discoverers of insulin at [[Case Western Reserve University]].

*J. Thomas Mortimer – Emeritus professor of biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University. Pioneer in Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://engineering.case.edu/profiles/jtm3|website=CSE Faculty/Staff Profiles|title=J. Thomas Mortimer|publisher=engineering.case.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-06-14|archive-date=2023-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502221647/https://engineering.case.edu/profiles/jtm3|url-status=live}}</ref>

*[[Robert M. Nerem]] – professor emeritus at [[Georgia Institute of Technology]]. Pioneer in regenerative tissue, biomechanics, and author of over 300 published works. His works have been cited more than 20,000 times cumulatively.

* [[Fred Weibell]], coauthor of ''Biomedical Instrumentation and Measurements''

* [[Uncas A. Whitaker|U.A. Whitaker]] (deceased) – provider of the [[Whitaker Foundation]], which supported research and education in BME by providing over $700 million to various universities, helping to create 30 BME programs and helping finance the construction of 13 buildings<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.whitaker.org/ |title=The Whitaker Foundation |publisher=Whitaker.org |access-date=2011-09-24 |archive-date=2011-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925095240/http://www.whitaker.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==

* {{annotated link|Physiome}}

*[[Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation Program]] (BEIP)

==References==

==Further reading==

==External links==