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October 2004, Issue #33
Feature Article – What is Biomedical Engineering? – Exclusive reprint from the second edition of "Is There an Engineer Inside You?".
MEDIAN INCOME: $70,000
What is Biomedical Engineering?
The objective of biomedical engineering is to enhance health care by solving complex medical problems using engineering principles. Those who specialize in this field want to serve the public, work with health care professionals, and interact with living systems. This broad field allows a large choice of sub-specialties. Many students say they choose biomedical engineering because it is people-oriented.
Imagine designing a medical device that appears to breath life into someone. The pacemaker was invented by biomedical engineers who literally gave recipients the ability to perform physical activities such as climbing a flight of stairs or walking around the block.
The biomedical engineering field changes rapidly. New technology is designed and fabricated every day. Biomedical engineers can expect a satisfying career with tremendous diversity and growth potential. The field includes many branches: biomechanical, bioelectrical, biochemical, rehabilitation, clinical, and genetic engineering. There are also many sub-specialties within biomedical engineering such as surgical lasers, telemedicine, nuclear medicine, and clinical computer systems.
According to the BMES, examples of specialization include:
- Artificial organs (hearing aids, cardiac pacemakers, kidneys and hearts, blood oxygenators, synthetic blood vessels, joints, arms, and legs).
- Automated patient monitoring (during surgery or in intensive care, healthy persons in unusual environments, such as astronauts in space or underwater divers at great depth).
- Blood chemistry sensors (potassium, sodium, O2, CO2, and pH).
- Advanced therapeutic and surgical devices (laser system for eye surgery, automated delivery of insulin, etc.).
- Application of expert systems and artificial intelligence to clinical decision making (computer-based systems for diagnosing diseases).
- Design of optimal clinical laboratories (computerized analyzer for blood samples, cardiac catheterization laboratory, etc.).
- Medical imaging systems (ultrasound, computer assisted tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, etc.).
- Computer modeling of physiologic systems (blood pressure control, renal function, visual and auditory nervous circuits, etc.).
- Biomaterials design (mechanical, transport and biocompatibility properties of implantable artificial materials).
- Biomechanics of injury and wound healing (gait analysis, application of growth factors, etc.).
- Sports medicine (rehabilitation, external support devices, etc.)
A fascinating application of biomechanical engineering, according to Ellen Morrissey and Donald Lehr of the Nolan/Lehr Group, is the helmets for hockey players. Though they appear to be made of a single piece of material, they are actually three different parts fitted together in an intricate geometric configuration refined over the years for maximum energy absorption. (To test the helmet's ability to attenuate impacts, manufacturers fit helmets with instrumental test heads and then drop them several meters. At the end of the drop, known as a "sudden deceleration," the testers examine the helmet's level of protection and whether it has withstood impacts from 275 to 300 G-forces.) Besides providing protection, the helmet must also be light enough to keep the head cool, since hockey players are in constant motion and release a great deal of heat through their head. Lightness also allows players to accelerate at high speeds and then, since sudden stops square the effect of inertia, stop without tumbling off balance.
The diverse field of biomedical engineering offers a real way to make a large impact on society. Biomedical engineers work in hospitals, government regulatory agencies, corporations, medical device companies, research labs, and universities. Many go to medical school; biomedical engineers have a higher acceptance rate into medical school than people with any other degree. Many go to law school and become patent attorneys or regulatory requirement attorneys. Some go into teaching, and many become consultants or advisers to medical companies.
The Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) has an excellent Web site at http://www.bmes.org/ that details the numerous specialties available within the field and provides links for additional information resources such as job opportunities, individual state BMES chapters, and prominent companies in the medical industry.
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