Bioengineering

Introduction to

BM1002

Engineering
Lifesciences Mathematics
Bioengineering
Physical sciences Chemical sciences
 Bioengineering
 Bioengineering is defined as the application of
engineering principles to understand, modify, or
control living systems

 Bioengineers need to have a solid education in

engineering and a working knowledge of biology,
physiology, chemistry and medicine
 Bioengineering is like any other engineering
discipline

 Engineers collect knowledge and develop an understanding of

how things work

 Engineers make practical use of their knowledge

 Engineers convert scientific theories into useful products

 What Bioengineers do?
 Bioengineers model physiological and biological functions
Gain comprehensive & integrated understanding of the functioning of living organisms;
Develop mathematical descriptions of physiological events
 Improve existing devices/processes
Diagnostics
Surgical instruments
Imaging
 Develop new materials/methods
Drug delivery
Biosensors
Tissue engineering
Engineering proteins
 Understand and model physiological and
biological functions
Applications of Engineering Fundamentals to Biological Systems
 Transport processes
 Thermodynamics
 Kinetics
 Basics of solid mechanics
 Basics of electricity
 Knowledge of basic mathematical methods
 Branches of bioengineering
Biomechanics
• application of classical mechanics to biological
or medical problems
• Study of movement of biological fluids,
viscoelastic materials, etc.,
• design of artificial limbs
 Biomaterials
• Study of both living tissue and artificial
synthetic biomaterials (polymers, metals,
ceramics, composites) used to replace part of
a living system or to function in intimate
contact with living tissue
• Biomaterials should be non-toxic, non-
carcinogenic, chemically inert, stable,
mechanically strong.
 Biomedical sensors, signal processing and
analysis
• Development of electrodes for sensing
physiological signals, and it can be based on
electrochemical mode, optical mode,
bioanalytical mode, etc.
• Collection and analysis of data from patients
• Signals can be of electrical, physical and
chemical type
• Processing can be done online (embedded), or
in offline mode
Medical imaging and image processing
• Provides provision for graphic display of
anatomic details and physological functions of
the body
• Physical phenomena + detectors + data
processing + graphic display = image
• Image analysis can confer the ability to
diagnose diseases at an early stage thus
providing time for corrective action.
 Medical instruments and devices
• Design of medical instruments and devices to
monitor and measure biological functions
• Ex: Patient monitors, Biopotential amplifiers,
Electrosurgical devices
 Important milestones in the development of
medical instruments
• Assisting ventilator (1945)
• Ultrasonic imaging (doppler based, 1950s)
• Implanted electrical heart pacemaker (1960)
• Artificial kidney (dialysis) 1960
• Computed tomography (1969)
• Heart valves (1975)
• Cardiac catheter (1975)
• Electrical heart defibrillator (1980)MRI (1982)
• Artificial heart (1984)
 Cell and Tissue engineering
• Utilization of anatomy, biochemistry and
mechanics of cellular and sub-cellular
structures to understand disease processes
and to be able to intervene at very specific
sites
• Design, construction, modification, growth
and maintenance of living tissue
• Rehabilitation engineering: application of
science and technology to improve the quality
of life for individuals with physical and
cognitive impairments
• Prosthesis and artificial organs: Design and
development of devices for replecement of
damaged body parts e.g., artificial heart,
circulatory assist devices, cardiac valve
prosthesis, artificial lung and blood-gas
exchange devices, artificial kidney, pancreas
 Physiological modelling, simulation and
control
• Use of computer simulation to understand
physiological relationships and organ function,
to predict the behaviour of a system of
interests (human body, particular organs,
organ systems, medical devices)
• Development of theoretical models
(computational, analytical, conceptual)
 Medical informatics
• Hospital information systems, computer based
patient records, computer networks in
hospitals, artificial knowldge based medical
decision making
Bioinformatics: Application of information
technology to problem areas in healthcare
systems, as well as genomics, proteomics and
mathematical modelling
 Medical devices
Can be categorized in to three areas:
• Diagnosis (Diagnostic devices)
• Therapy (therapeutic devices)
• Rehabilitation (application of assisting orthoic-
prosthetic devices)
 Diagnostic devices
Types:
• Recording and monitoring devices
• Measurement and analysis devices
• Imaging devices
Importance
• Enhance and extend five human senses to improve and
collect data from the patient for diagnosis
• Perception of the physician can be improved by disganostic
instrumentation via amplification of human senses, by
placing observers senses in inaccessible environments,
provide new senses
 Therapeutic devices
• Objective is to deliver physical substances to
the body to treat disease
• Physical substances include current, pressure,
flow, force, ultrasound, heat, radiation
(electromagnetic)
• Devices can either be used to treat disorders
or to assist or control the physiological
functions
 Assistive or rehabilitative devices
Objective is to assist individuals with a disability
• Disability may be due to trouble in performing
daily activities, limitations in mobility,
communication disorders, sensory diasbilities
Types of rehabilitative devices:
• Orthopedic devices (aids in existing function)
• Prosthetic devices (provides a substitute)
 Genetic engineering
• Genetic engineering, also known as recombinant
DNA technology, means altering the genes in a living
organism to produce a Genetically Modified
Organism (GMO) with a new genotype.
• Various kinds of genetic modification are possible:
inserting a foreign gene from one species into
another, forming a transgenic organism; altering an
existing gene so that its product is changed; or
changing gene expression so that it is translated
more often or not at all.
Some of the successful applications of genetic engineering:
a. Tissue plasminogen activator (TPA), used to prevent and dissolve
blood clots.
b. Human growth hormone, to treat pituitary dwarfism.
c. Tissue growth factor-beta (TGF-β), to promote blood vessel and
epidermal growth, and thus healing.
d. Human blood clotting factor VIII, to treat hemophilia.
e. Human insulin (“humulin”), to treat insulin-dependent diabetes.
f. DNase, to treat cystic fibrosis.
g. Recombinant vaccines, to prevent human and animal viral diseases.
h. Bovine growth hormone, to increase meat and dairy yields.
i. Platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), to treat skin ulcers in diabetics
j. Genetically engineered bacteria to produce industrial enzymes,
flavorings and ethanol.
k. Genetically engineered bacteria specialized to degrade pollutants.
Humans have selectively bred plants for centuries. Now, recombinant
DNA technology has made possible the genetic engineering of
agricultural plants.

– Monsanto’s RoundupTMReady soybeans have been on the market

since 1996, despite controversy over the safety of genetically
engineered crop plants.
– Another example is the “Flavr Savr” tomato, in which production of
the fruit-softening enzyme polygalactouronase (PG) is inhibited by
an antisense mRNA, resulting in vine-ripened tomatoes that are less
prone to bruising and over-ripening.
Genetic engineering of plants is likely to increase. Particularly valuable
traits might be:
a. Increased yield.
b. Insect pest resistance.
c. Herbicide tolerance.