Chapter 2: Biomedical engineering

Medical engineering, often known as biomedical engineering (BME), is the application of engineering ideas and design concepts to the fields of medicine and biology for the purpose of providing healthcare (for example, for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes). When it comes to advancing health care treatment, including diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy, BME is also typically considered to be on the logical sciences side. Biomedical engineers are responsible for managing existing medical equipment in hospitals while adhering to appropriate industry standards. This responsibility falls under the purview of the biomedical engineering profession. As part of this profession, which is also known as a Biomedical Equipment Technician (BMET) or as a clinical engineer, the individual is responsible for making suggestions regarding equipment, as well as doing routine testing, preventive maintenance, and purchase.

Recent years have seen the emergence of biomedical engineering as a distinct field of study, in contrast to the majority of other engineering discipline areas. When a new field evolves from being an interdisciplinary specialization among already-established subjects to being deemed a field in its own right, this kind of evolution is a regular occurrence. A significant portion of the work that is done in the subject of biomedical engineering is comprised of research and development, which encompasses a wide variety of subfields (see below). The development of biocompatible prostheses, a wide variety of diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices ranging from clinical equipment to micro-implants, imaging technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electrocardiogram (ECG), regenerative tissue growth, and the development of pharmaceutical drugs, including biopharmaceuticals, are some of the most notable applications of biomedical engineering.

The subject of bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the development of software tools and procedures for the purpose of comprehending biological data. Bioinformatics is an area of study that combines computer science, statistics, mathematics, and engineering in order to analyze and understand biological data. It is an interdisciplinary field of science.

Both an umbrella term for the body of biological research that employ computer programming as part of their technique and a reference to specific analysis "pipelines" that are frequently used, notably in the field of genomics, bioinformatics is regarded to be a phrase that encompasses both of these aspects. One of the most common applications of bioinformatics is the identification of candidate genes and nucleotides, often known as polymorphisms. It is common practice to make such identifications with the intention of gaining a deeper comprehension of the genetic underpinnings of diseases, distinctive adaptations, desirable characteristics (particularly in agricultural animals), or distinguishing characteristics between populations. In a manner that is less formal, bioinformatics also makes an effort to comprehend the organizational principles that are present within the sequences of nucleic acids and proteins.

The study of the structure and function of the mechanical features of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells, and cell organelles, using the tools of mechanics is referred to as biomechanics. Biomechanics study can be applied to any level of biological systems.

Any substance, surface, or construction that engages in interaction with biological systems is referred to as a biomaterial. The field of biomaterials has been around for around fifty years as a scientific discipline. The field of research known as biomaterials science or biomaterials engineering is concerned with the study of biomaterials. Over the course of its existence, it has been subjected to consistent and robust expansion, with numerous businesses putting substantial sums of money into the creation of revolutionary new items. A number of disciplines, including medicine, biology, chemistry, tissue engineering, and materials science, are included in the field of biomaterials science.

The study of the interaction between biological tissue and light, as well as the ways in which this interaction can be utilized for sensing, imaging, and therapy, is the focus of biomedical optics, which brings together the concepts of physics, engineering, and biology. Optical imaging, microscopy, ophthalmoscopy, spectroscopy, and treatment are just some of the many applications that may be undertaken with this technology. Optical coherence tomography (OCT), fluorescence microscopy, confocal microscopy, and photodynamic treatment (PDT) are all examples of techniques and technologies that fall under the umbrella of biomedical optics. The optical coherence tomography (OCT) technique, for instance, employs light to generate high-resolution, three-dimensional images of internal tissues. These structures include the retina in the eye and the coronary arteries in the heart. Through the use of fluorescent dyes to identify specific molecules and the subsequent visualization of those molecules through the use of light, fluorescence microscopy is able to provide insights into the causes of illness and biological processes. More recently, adaptive optics has been improving imaging by correcting aberrations in biological tissue. This has made it possible to achieve greater resolution imaging and improved accuracy in treatments such as laser surgery and retinal imaging.

One of the most important subfields of biotechnology is tissue engineering, which, like genetic engineering (which will be discussed further below), has a substantial amount of overlap with BME.

One of the objectives of tissue engineering is to fashion artificial organs out of biological material for the purpose of providing transplants to people who are in need of organs. As of right now, biomedical engineers are conducting research on different ways to create organs of this kind. In an effort to achieve this goal, researchers have taken human stem cells and produced solid jawbones and trachea structures. It has been demonstrated that it is possible to effectively transplant artificial urinary bladders into human patients after they have been created in laboratories. Research is also focusing on bioartificial organs, which are organs that are created using both synthetic and biological components. One example of this is the development of hepatic assist devices, which are constructed using liver cells within an artificial bioreactor.

The direct manipulation of an organism's genes is referred to by a number of different names, including genetic engineering, recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification/manipulation (GM), and gene splicing. Genetic engineering, in contrast to conventional breeding, which is an indirect way of genetic manipulation, makes use of contemporary tools such as molecular cloning and transformation in order to directly alter the structure and features of genes that are the focus of the scientific investigation. Numerous applications have been successful in utilizing approaches that are based on genetic engineering. Some examples include the development of crop technology (which is not a medical application; for more information on this topic, see biological systems engineering), the production of synthetic human insulin by utilizing modified bacteria, the production of erythropoietin in hamster ovary cells, and the production of new types of experimental mice for research purposes, such as the oncomouse (cancer mouse). [Citation needed]

Neural engineering, which is often referred to as neuroengineering, is a field of study that use engineering methods in order to comprehend, repair, replace, or improve neural systems. It is only possible for neural engineers to handle design difficulties that arise at the interface between living neural tissue and non-living constructions because of their particular qualifications. There are a variety of applications that can benefit from neural engineering, one of which being the creation of prostheses in the future. As an illustration, cognitive neural prosthetics (CNP) are currently the subject of extensive research. If successful, this technology would make it possible for a chip implant to provide signals that would enable individuals who wear prosthetics to operate assistive equipment.

The fields of drug engineering, new drug delivery and targeting, pharmaceutical technology, unit operations of chemical engineering, and pharmaceutical analysis are all included in the field of pharmaceutical engineering, which is an interdisciplinary science. Due to the fact that it focuses on the use of technology to chemical agents in order to provide better medicinal treatment, it might be considered a component of the field of pharmacy.

In essence, this category encompasses all health care products that do not achieve their intended benefits through primarily chemical (for example, pharmaceuticals) or biological (for example, vaccinations) means, and do not require metabolism. It is an incredibly broad category.

A medical gadget is designed to be utilized in the following situations:

The following are some examples of prosthetics: pacemakers, infusion pumps, the heart-lung machine, dialysis machines, artificial organs, implants, artificial limbs, corrective lenses, cochlear implants, ocular prosthetics, facial prosthetics, somato prosthetics, and dental implants.

The process of creating physical items through the use of medical modeling is shown by the practice of stereolithography. In addition to modeling organs and the human body, modern engineering techniques are also currently being utilized in the research and development of new...