Introduction to BME

Reference book:
1. Introduction to Biomedical Engineering by- JOHN D. ENDERLE
& JOSEPH D. BRONZINO
2. Principles of Biomedical Engineering by Sundararajan V.
Madihally
3. Biomedical Engineering Bridging Medicine and Technology by
W. MARK SALTZMAN
 Diversity in the Terminology

• Medical/ Clinical Engineering,

• Bioengineering, Biotechnology
• Medical Technology.
• Health care Technology

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 Biomedical Engineering (BME)

• a growing and expanding interdisciplinary profession

• concerned with the application of
• engineering,
• mathematics,
• computing, and
• science methodologies
to the analysis of biological and physiological problems
• produce technological advances in health care

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 Biomedical Engineering (BME)
• Definition 1:
• Biomedical engineering is a discipline that
• advances knowledge in engineering, biology and medicine,
and improves human health through cross-disciplinary
activities that integrate the engineering sciences with the
biomedical sciences and clinical practice.”
• It includes:
• The acquisition of new knowledge and understanding of
living systems through the innovative and substantive
application of experimental and analytical techniques
based on the engineering sciences.
• The development of new devices, algorithms, processes
and systems that advance biology and medicine and
improve medical practice and health care deliver

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 Biomedical Engineering (BME)

• Definition:
The use of engineering technology, instrumentation and
methods to solve medical problems, such as improving
our understanding of physiology and the manufacture of
artificial limbs and organs.

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 Biomedical Engineering (BME)
➢ Engineering + Biology + Medicine BME

➢Engineering Technology for the solution of Medical Problems BME

➢Design & problem solving skills of engineering + Medical & Biological science

BME
 Biomedical Engineering (BME)

Engineering Biomedical Medical

Technique Engineer Problems

Analysis

Solution to medical
& clinical problems

Improve healthcare,
diagnosis, monitoring &
therapy
 Advancement in Biomedical Engineering (BME)

Figure shows a schematic view of advancement in biomedical engineering, which relies on

sequential development of improved tools for studying physiology and the subsequent increased
understanding of physiology that results. MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; ECG,
electrocardiogram.
 Biomedical Engineering Principles
➢Electrical & Electronics : Instrumentations, Bio-amplifier, Bioelectric
signals acquisition, Brain computer interfaces.
➢Mechanical : Artificial Limbs, Prostheses,.
➢Chemical: Biosensors, chemical analyzers.
➢Optical: Fiber optics, Optical measurements.
➢Computer science: Signal & Image processing, Information Systems.
➢Material Science: Implanted devices, artificial tissues.
➢Physiological: Action potentials & How does body systems work ?
➢Communication:Antenna design, In body and out body communication
 Biomedical Engineer
Biomedical Engineers-
➢apply electrical, chemical, optical, mechanical, and other engineering
principles to understand, modify, or control biological (i.e., human and
animal) systems.
➢work with doctors and researchers to develop technical equipment,
devices other healthcare systems that help to deliver better patient care.
➢For example- A biomedical engineer may design or create physical
equipment such as CT scanner or defibrillator or they may design a
computer system or software that is used in healthcare settings.
 Biomedical Engineers
• Apply different engineering principles
• electrical and electronics
• instrumentation, bio amplifiers
• mechanical,
• artificial limbs, prostheses
• physical
• diagnostic imaging and therapeutic devices
• chemical,
• biosensors, chemical analyzers
• optical,
• fiber optics, optical measurements
• computer science
• computational medicine, signal and image analysis, information
systems
• material science
• implanted devices, artificial tissues and organs

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 Biomedical Engineers
Biomedical Engineers
• design and manufacture products that can
• monitor physiologic functions or
• display anatomic detail
• Detection, measurement, and monitoring of physiologic signals
• biosensors
• biomedical instrumentation and eletronics
• Medical imaging
• assist in the diagnosis and treatment of patients
• Computer analysis of patient-related data
• clinical decision making
• medical informatics
• artificial intelligence
• supervise biomedical equipment maintenance technicians,
• investigate medical equipment failure,
• advise hospitals about purchasing and installing new equipment
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 Roles of Biomedical Engineer
➢Therapeutic and rehabilitation procedures and devices (rehabilitation
engineering);
➢Development of new diagnostic instruments for blood analysis;
➢Writing software for analysis of medical research data;
➢Design of telemetry systems for patient monitoring;
 Biomedical Equipment Technician
Biomedical Equipment Technicians-
➢Make sure all the advanced technical equipments and devices that were
designed to deliver better patient care, remain in good working
conditions.
➢They also perform safety checks and quality control on diagnostic
machines.
➢For example they inspect, repair and calibrate defibrillators, ventilators,
CT and MRI scanners and more.
 Clinical Engineering
➢Clinical Engineering uses engineering, management and technology
concepts to improve healthcare delivery systems in hospitals.

➢Clinical engineering is taken to mean the application of medical and

biological engineering within the clinical environment for the
enhancement of health care.
 Clinical Engineers
When a biomedical engineer works within a hospital or clinic, he or she is
more properly called a clinical engineer.
A Clinical Engineer is a professional who supports and advances patient
care by applying engineering and managerial skills to healthcare
technology. Roles-
➢Management of Hospital systems;
➢ training and supervising biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs);
➢working with governmental regulators on hospital inspections/audits;
➢Clinical engineers also advise medical device producers regarding
prospective design improvements based on clinical experiences;
➢Plus almost all roles that biomedical engineers do.
 Main fields of BME
Biomedical engineering can be divided into subdisciplines, like-
1.Bioinstrumentation
2.Biomaterials
3.Biomechanics
4.Medical Imaging
5.Rehabilitation Engineering
6.Tissue Engineering
7.Bioinformatics
8.Biomedical Optics
9.Biomolecular Engineering
10.Biotechnology etc.
 Bioinstrumentation
➢Bioinstrumentation is the application of electrical measurement and electronics
engineering principles to develop devices used in diagnosis and treatment of
disease.
➢Medical imaging and signal processing are part of bioinstrumentation. for example,
the designing and development of medical devices such as
✓ cardiac pacemakers
✓ Defibrillators
✓ cochlear implants
✓ artificial kidneys
✓ artificial joints, arms, and legs etc
 Biomaterials
➢Biomaterials are synthetic and natural materials used in the design of
implantable and extracorporeal devices.
➢Any material used to make devices to replace a part or a function of the
body in a safe, reliable economic & physiologically acceptable manner.
➢Properties of biomaterials-
✓nontoxic
✓noncarcinogenic
✓chemically inert
✓stable & mechanically strong
➢Example: Stainless steel, Platinum, Cobalt-chromium alloys, Gold etc.
 Biomechanics
➢Better understanding of the forces and their effects on the human body
is essential to get more insight into the functioning of various body
parts, the effect of load and overload on specific structures, and the
mechanics of biomaterial that could be utilized in prosthetic
development
➢Biomechanics is the study of the structure and function of the
mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole
organisms to organs, cells, and cell organelles using the methods of
mechanics.
➢Example- Gait cycle analysis or locomotion of the biological system
 Medical Imaging
➢Medical imaging involves the development of various imaging techniques that can
be utilized in a clinical setting to diagnose or to understand basic physiology and
biology research.
➢Noninvasive imaging modalities provide information regarding functional processes
or anatomy of some of the internal organs.
➢Example includes-
✓X-ray
✓Computed Tomography (CT)
✓Ultrasound
✓Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
✓Proton Emission Tomography (PET)
✓Single Photon Emission Tomography (SPECT)
 Rehabilitation Engineering
Rehabilitation Engineering

Evaluation Research/design
Treatment Testing
Re-evaluation Fabrication
Education Integration
Training Education
Research Process optimization
Outcome measurement

➢ Rehabilitation Engineering is the systematic applications of engineering science to design,

develop, adapt, test, evaluate, apply and distribute technological solutions to problems
confronted by individuals with disabilities
➢ The action of restoring someone to health or normal life through training and therapy after
addiction, or illness by engineering applications.
 Tissue Engineering
❖ An interdisciplinary field that applies the principles of engineering and life
sciences toward the development of biological substitutes that restore, maintain, or
improve tissue function or a whole organ
❖ Some examples of tissues & organs that have already been successfully tissue
engineered and implanted in human include bladders, small arteries, skin grafts,
cartilages, even a full trachea and many more.
 Bioinformatics
➢Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software
tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large
and complex.
➢As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combines
biology, computer science, information engineering, mathematics and statistics to
analyze and interpret the biological data.

Biomedical Optics
➢Biomedical Optics refers to the interaction of biological tissue with light and how
this can be used for sensing, imaging and treatment
 Molecular Engineering
➢Biomolecular engineering is the branch of biomedical engineering that
emphasizes the use of chemical engineering principles for design and analysis
drug or drug delivery system to remove unwanted or even deadly side effects.

Biotechnology
➢It is the use of biology to solve problems and make useful products.
➢Biotechnology is technology that utilizes biological systems, living organisms or
parts of this to develop or create different products.
➢The most prominent area of biotechnology is the production of therapeutic
proteins and other drugs through genetic engineering.
 Ethical Issues

Bioethics is typically controversial ethics brought about by

advances in biology and medicine. It is also moral discernment as
it relates to medical policy, practice, and research.

➢ It is concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the

relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine,
politics, law, and philosophy.

➢ It also includes the study of the more commonplace questions

of values ("the ethics of the ordinary") which arise in primary
care and other branches of medical sciences.
 Ethical / Social Issues in Biomedical
Organ Transplantation

- Living donations of the kidney , part of liver , lobe of lung, part of

intestine and portion of pancreas can be made
- A donor must be healthy in order to give an organ
- The demand for living organs is increasing
- For cultural and personal reasons, some are resistant to transplants
from cadavers
- In some countries organs are obtained through Coercion or force and
sold (organ trafficking)
- Another strategy to obtain more organs for transplant is using animal-
to-human transplants (xeno transplant at ion)
 Ethical / Social Issues in Biomedical
Gene Therapy
- Involves replacing a faulty gene with a normal one
- The HGP (Human Genome Project ) identified up to 25000 genes in
human DNA making this possible
- Currently still experimental
- In the future may be used to treat cancer , genetic disease and viral
infection

Reproductive Technologies (AI and IVF)

- AI (Artificial insemination) – collecting sperm from a male and placing it

in the reproductive system of a female.

- IVF (Invitro fertilization)–sperm and eggs are collected and placed in a test
tube or petri dish for fertilization to take place in a controlled environment .
 Ethical / Social Issues in Biomedical

M/F Selection Technologies

- Choosing the sex of a baby through methods such as sperm separation and
staining, and PGD (Pre- implantation genetic diagnosis)
- PGD is completed by choosing male or female embryos after the IVF process
- PGD’s original use was to detect genetic mutations linked to genetic diseases
 Ethical / Social Issues in Biomedical

Stem Cell research

- Stem cells (refer to previous note) – group of unspecialized cells present in
animals
- All cells come from stem cells (specialize later) Embryonic stem cells
- from an embryo, can still differentiate Adult stem cells
- from an adults brain, bone marrow , limited ability to become any type of cell
Cord blood small amounts can be harvested
- Scientists believe they can treat injury and disease using stem cells
 Ethical / Social Issues in Biomedical

Cloning
- Creation of a genetically identical organism that is an exact copy of a gene cell, tissue,
organism

Cloning in Plants
- Vegetative propaganda – cutting a piece from a plant and allowing it to root to produce
another plant
- Grafting
- roots of one plant are attached to shoots of another to produce a more desirable type
of plant (eg, a more desirable quality of fruit)
 Ethical / Social Issues in Biomedical

Cloning in Animals
- Reproductive cloning – transferring a nucleus from a donor body into an egg
that has no nucleus .
- The egg is then transferred into the uterus of the mother
- Gene cloning –transferring an egg into bacteria so that it reproduces multiple
times
- Useful in scientific research
- Therapeutic cloning –same as reproductive cloning, but purpose is to harvest
embryonic stem cells from a developing embryo

Transgenic Techniques
- Transgenic organisms contain genes from other species
- Transgenic plants have been developed to have increased resistance to
disease or environmental conditions.
 Professional Societies
The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
• The United States has the largest biomedical engineering community in the world.
• To unify all the disparate components of the biomedical engineering community in the United States as represented
by various societies, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) was created in 1992.
• The primary goal of AIMBE is to
• serve as an umbrella organization in the United States for the purpose of unifying the bioengineering
community
• addressing public policy issues, and
• promoting the engineering approach in society’s effort to enhance health and the quality of life through the
judicious use of technology.
 Professional Societies
IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
• The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) is the largest international professional organization in
the world and accommodates 37 different societies and councils under its umbrella structure.
• Of these 37, the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) represents the foremost international
organization.
• The major interest of the EMBS encompasses the application of concepts and methods from the physical and
engineering sciences to biology and medicine.
• Each year, the society sponsors a major international conference while cosponsoring a number of theme-oriented
regional conferences throughout the world.
• Premier publications consist of
• a monthly journal (Transactions on Biomedical Engineering),
• three quarterly journals (Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, Transactions on
Information Technology in Biomedicine, and Transactions on Nanobioscience),
• a bimonthly magazine (IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine).
• Secondary publications, authored in collaboration with other societies, include
• Transactions on Medical Imaging,
• Transactions on Neural Networks, and
• Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.
 Professional Societies
The Biomedical Engineering Society
• Was founded in order to address a need for a society that afforded equal status to representatives of both
biomedical and engineering interests.
• The primary goal of the BMES, as stated in their Articles of Incorporation, is “to promote the increase of
biomedical engineering knowledge and its utilization.”
• Meetings are interspersed throughout the year and are promoted in conjunction with other biomedical engineering
societies such as AIMBE and EMBS.
• The primary publications associated with the BMES include
• Annals of Biomedical Engineering, a monthly journal presenting original research in several biomedical fields;
• BMES Bulletin, a quarterly newsletter presenting a wider array of subject matter relating both to biomedical
engineering as well as BMES news and events; and
• the BMES Membership Directory, an annual publication listing the contact information of the society’s
individual constituents.