BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING :

PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS IN BANGLADESH

Bangladesh University of Engineering and
Technology
Course no. – HUM 104
Course Title – English Skills Sessional
A Report on
Biomedical Engineering : Prospects and Problems in Bangladesh
Prepared for

Md. Murshikul Alam Dr. Sharmin Chowdhury

Associate Professor Assistant Professor
Department of Humanities Department of Humanities
BUET BUET
Prepared by
Raiyun Kabir (1818019)
Purnopama Saha (1818020)
Mrinmoy Nandi Bappa (1818021)
Fahmida Akhtar (1818022)
Nusaiba Sobir (1818023)
Raisa Islam (1818024)
Department of Biomedical Engineering
BUET

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 Forwarding Letter
August 27, 2019
Md. Murshikul Alam
Dr. Sharmin Chowdhury
Department of Humanities
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Subject : Submission of report on ‘Biomedical Engineering : Prospects and Problems in
Bangladesh’.
Sir/Madam,
We have the pleasure in submitting the report on ‘Biomedical Engineering’. We are thankful
to you for giving us the chance to write a report on such an interesting topic related to our
study. We are also thankful to all who contributed to our work in different ways.
Biomedical Engineering is an engineering sector related to medical science which has seen
the most growth among the engineering sectors over the last decade in the world. This is the
only field that links engineering to medical science. Biomedical Engineering is a popular
subject in the world, but a new one in our country. The rapid growth of industries and
research facilities has amazed everyone. So, we took the opportunity to introduce the
prospects of this field in our report as well as finding out the problems it is facing in our
country. We did our best to make the report informative and clear. We hope the readers will
be able to get the concept of Biomedical Engineering easily by reading this report.
Thank you for your consideration.
Yours faithfully,
Raiyun Kabir (1818019)
Purnopama Saha (1818020)
Mrinmoy Nandi Bappa (1818021)
Fahmida Akhtar (1818022)
Nusaiba Sobir (1818023)
Raisa Islam (1818024)
Department of Biomedical Engineering, BUET.
Level – 1, Term – 1.
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 Table of Contents
Title Page ……………………………………………………………………….... ii
Forwarding Letter ……………………………………………………………… iii
Table of Contents ……………………………………………………………….. iv
List of Illustrations ……………………………………………………………… v
Summary ………………………………………………………………………... vi
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………... 1
Description …………………………………………………………………… 2-18
1. What is Biomedical Engineering? ………………………………………………... 2
2. History of Biomedical Engineering ………………………………………………. 2
3. Start of BME in Bangladesh ……………………………………………………… 3
4. Biomedical Engineering in Human Life ………………………………………... 5-9
4.1 Prosthetic Limb ………………………………………………………………………………… 5
4.2 Diagnosis ………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
4.3 Organ Transplantation …………………………………………………………………………. 7
4.4 Surgery …………………………………………………………………………………………. 7
4.5 Health Maintenance ……………………………………………………………………………. 8
5. BME in Bangladesh …………………………………………………………… 9-10
5.1 Fields to Explore ……………………………………………………………………… 9
5.2 Research Area ……………………………………………………………………….. 10
6. Prospects ……………………………………………………………………... 10-14
6.1 Career Prospects ……………………...……………………………………………… 10
6.2 Industry ………………………………………………………………………………. 11
6.3 Child and Maternal Health …………………………………………………………... 12
6.4 Treatment of Fatal Diseases …………………………………………………………. 13
6.5 Telemedicine ………………………………………………………………………… 13
7. Problems ……………………………………………………………………... 14-16
7.1 Syllabus ……………………………………………………………………………… 14
7.2 Funding ………………………………………………………………………………. 14
7.3 Shortage of Lab Facilities …………………………………………………………… 15
7.4 Apathy for Research …………………………………………………………………. 15
7.5 Outlook ………………………………………………………………………………. 15
8. What We Should Do …………………………………………………………. 16-18

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 8.1 Industries and Investment ……………………………………………………………. 16
8.2 Research ……………………………………………………………………………... 17
8.3 Syllabus ……………………………………………………………………………… 17
8.4 Our Thinking ………………………………………………………………………… 18
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………… 18
Recommendation ………………………………………………………………. 18
Appendix ……………………………………………………………………. 20-23
Questionnaires ………………………………………………………………………………. 20
List of Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………….. 22
List of References …………………………………………………………………………... 22
Glossary …………………………………………………………………………………….. 23

List of Illustrations
Figure no. Page no.
Figure 1 - Prosthetic limb ……………………………………………………………………….. 5
Figure 2 - Femoral head transplantation ………………………………………………………… 7
Figure 3 - Review on existing health monitoring gadgets or apps ……………………………… 8
Figure 4 - Overall condition of BME in Bangladesh ……………………………………………. 9
Figure 5 - Biomedical engineers are not being appointed in our hospitals …………………….. 11
Figure 6 - Public interest situation in local manufacturing …………………………………….. 12
Figure 7 - Tendency of going abroad and reasons ……………………………………………... 15
Figure 8 - Interest in investment ……………………………………………………………….. 17

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 Summary

Biomedical Engineering (BME) is an interdisciplinary field that applies engineering

principles of design and analysis to biological systems and medical technologies. This is an
area of study that ranges from theory to applications, encompassing research, development,
implementation and operation. It is currently one of the fastest-growing engineering
disciplines in the world as well as in Bangladesh. Students, with a motivation to serve the
people, choose biomedical engineering as a unique choice and are trained in fundamentals of
both biology and engineering. Although this engineering subject is introduced lately in our
country, the concept of biomedical engineering is not new here. Those who are working from
the very past, for the betterment of the medical sector of our country, giving technological
inputs, all can be called biomedical engineers in a way.

BME is an emerging and highly demanding field of study and its graduates can perform
cutting-edge research, design new medical equipments, and develop innovative products.
There are many problems in the health sector of Bangladesh that can efficiently be solved
only by biomedical personnel. Moreover, our young engineers can innovate cost-reducing
treatments for common diseases in our country so that medical facilities are always
affordable for impoverished people.

Despite becoming such highly prospective subject, there are some challenges in the way of
taking the biomedical field upward such as our discouraging outlook towards a less familiar
subject, shortage of well-equipped laboratories, the old curriculum at school and college
levels, our apathy for research, etc. We have to overcome these hurdles on our own. We have
already started to come out from the misconceptions by our perception in this modern era.

We really need to facilitate the biomedical engineering field, fulfilling the requirements for
better research, in order to bring high-quality healthcare benefits to the doorstep of all people
of our country.

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