What is Biomedical Engineering?
What is Biomedical Engineering?
Biomedical Engineering (or BME for short) is the application of engineering to the field of medicine. Biomedical engineers solve problems in the fields of biology using engineering principles and enhance health care. Biomedical engineering connects electronics with medicine and biology. Electronic equipment that you often come across in your doctor’s clinic are the produce of biomedical engineering.
Biomedical engineering, in its modern form, is quite a new discipline. Owing to this reason, much of the work in Biomedical engineering lies in research and development. Biomedical research spans over many closely related fields like Bioinstrumentation, biomechanics, genetic engineering, medical imaging, rehabilitation engineering, etc.
Just like medicine, the origins of biomedical engineering are as old as humanity itself. Many archaeological finds prove this fact. Recently a mummy was discovered whose one leg was deformed. A crutch was discovered nearby, indicating that the fields of prosthesis and rehabilitation engineering are very old indeed.
Biomedical engineering has a great future. There are many problems in the health field that need solutions and many problems will be discovered sooner. Biomedical engineering has to provide solutions to these problems. We have not been able to find perfect solutions to diseases like cancer and AIDS. It is here that biomedical engineering comes into play. Newer disciplines like nanotechnology, in combination with biomedical engineering will greatly improve health care.
Considerable research is in progress in the field of artificial organs and human-brain interfacing. Many of these developments will be made available in the coming few years and will greatly revolutionize and change the way we perceive things.
Related Pages:
- Biomedical Engineering: A definition
- Roles played by biomedical engineers
- Biomedical engineering: Professional Societies
