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  WHAT IS MEDICAL ENGINEERING?

"Medical Engineering encompasses a broad range of activities, and is alternatively called Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering. It is a multi-disciplinary subject integrating professional engineering activities with a basic medical knowledge of the human body and an understanding of how it functions when healthy, diseased or injured. Many of the advances in this field now seem commonplace - hip replacements, pacemakers, medical imaging, life support systems and medical lasers are just a few examples of the results of the work of Medical Engineers. "

      Medical Engineers are needed for the healthcare industry, the world's biggest industrial sector, which has a turnover approaching £300 billion per annum and is currently expanding at a rate of 7% per annum. The opportunities for Medical Engineering graduates are enormous and it is one of the few areas of engineering that is expected to continue to grow for many years .

  WHAT TYPE OF COURSE?

      The UK is a world leader in Medical Engineering research and manufacture and offers many undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The broad range of activities covered by the subject means that the focus of Medical Engineering degrees can be quite different - there is more variation in course content than in other, more traditional, engineering subjects. Therefore you will need to look carefully at course details before deciding on a programme of study. For example, while most Medical Engineering courses currently have a mechanical or electronic foundation, others may be biased more to materials, physics or biology.

      Clearly the course content depends on the bias of the degree. For example, the University of Hull offers a mechanical-based course which has core modules of mechanical engineering and basic medicine, together with specialist modules in biomechanics, biofluids and biomaterials, implant design and artificial organs, rehabilitation engineering, computer and robotic assisted surgery, tissue engineering, physiological measurements, medical imaging and diagnostic techniques, and regulatory issues and medical ethics.

      Direct links with local hospitals and preferably a Medical School are essential if the course is to be truly applied and you are to get some clinical experience. These links are also an invaluable source of final year projects, which can then be associated with a particular clinical problem and possibly an individual patient.

      In common with most engineering disciplines, team-working, presentation and inter-personal skills are very important for Medical Engineers as they will often be the person bridging the gap between clinicians, patients, sales and marketing, and the manufacturing activities. Medical Engineers are however unique in their systems and integrative approach to problem solving, their ability to carry the results of basic research into the commercial and clinical setting and their ability to function in a multidisciplinary environment.

  JOB PROSPECTS

      Job prospects for Medical Engineers are excellent and varied. They can be employed in companies working on the design, development and manufacture of medical devices; in hospitals working with clinical colleagues in providing non-clinical services; in academic or governmental research facilities; and in government regulatory agencies. They can also work as technical advisers for marketing departments.

      As a Medical Engineer you will have the opportunity to get involved in a wide range of exciting projects. Hip replacement surgery is now a very common operation, which has brought renewed mobility and reduced pain to millions of people worldwide. Despite its success, there is still a great deal of work being undertaken to improve the performance of artificial hip joints still further, and in particular to extend their lives so they can be used in younger and more active patients. Indeed, replacement joints are now available for most of the articulating joints of the human body. Artificial limbs are also becoming increasingly sophisticated, and a bionic arm has recently been supplied to a patient that has powered finger, wrist, elbow and shoulder movement. Soon these limbs will be controlled directly by muscle and tendon contacts.

      And in the future, applications which today might seem unrealistic, are already being developed in research labs around the world. For example, an artificial retina chip has been developed which can be implanted in the eye to replace a damage retina and partly restore lost vision. You will know that it is already possible to restore lost hearing, but electronic circuits are also under development to restore the senses of smell and taste. Similarly, artificial tendons have already been developed and approved for use in patients, and now materials are being developed that respond to electrical currents and behave in a similar way to human muscles.

      The efforts of Medical Engineers benefit millions of people every year, and allow healthcare providers to supply better care and treatment to patients through the use of technology. So if you want to follow a career that is dynamic, interesting, exciting and challenging, can directly affect the quality of all our lives, has great employment potential now and in the future, then consider a degree in Medical Engineering.

What are Some of the Specialty Areas?

      In this field there is continual change and creation of new areas due to rapid advancement in technology; however, some of the well established specialty areas within the field of biomedical engineering are: bioinstrumentation; biomaterials; biomechanics; cellular, tissue and genetic engineering; clinical engineering; medical imaging; orthopaedic surgery; rehabilitation engineering; and systems physiology.

      Bioinstrumentation is the application of electronics and measurement techniques to develop devices used in diagnosis and treatment of disease. Computers are an essential part of bioinstrumentation, from the microprocessor in a single-purpose instrument used to do a variety of small tasks to the microcomputer needed to process the large amount of information in a medical imaging system.

      Biomaterials include both living tissue and artificial materials used for implantation. Understanding the properties and behavior of living material is vital in the design of implant materials. The selection of an appropriate material to place in the human body may be one of the most difficult tasks faced by the biomedical engineer. Certain metal alloys, ceramics, polymers, and composites have been used as implantable materials. Biomaterials must be nontoxic, non-carcinogenic, chemically inert, stable, and mechanically strong enough to withstand the repeated forces of a lifetime. Newer biomaterials even incorporate living cells in order to provide a true biological and mechanical match for the living tissue.

      Biomechanics applies classical mechanics (statics, dynamics, fluids, solids, thermodynamics, and continuum mechanics) to biological or medical problems. It includes the study of motion, material deformation, flow within the body and in devices, and transport of chemical constituents across biological and synthetic media and membranes. Progress in biomechanics has led to the development of the artificial heart and heart valves, artificial joint replacements, as well as a better understanding of the function of the heart and lung, blood vessels and capillaries, and bone, cartilage, intervertebral discs, ligaments and tendons of the musculoskeletal systems.

      Cellular, Tissue and Genetic Engineering involve more recent attempts to attack biomedical problems at the microscopic level. These areas utilize the anatomy, biochemistry and mechanics of cellular and sub-cellular structures in order to understand disease processes and to be able to intervene at very specific sites. With these capabilities, miniature devices deliver compounds that can stimulate or inhibit cellular processes at precise target locations to promote healing or inhibit disease formation and progression.

      Clinical Engineering is the application of technology to health care in hospitals. The clinical engineer is a member of the health care team along with physicians, nurses and other hospital staff. Clinical engineers are responsible for developing and maintaining computer databases of medical instrumentation and equipment records and for the purchase and use of sophisticated medical instruments. They may also work with physicians to adapt instrumentation to the specific needs of the physician and the hospital. This often involves the interface of instruments with computer systems and customized software for instrument control and data acquisition and analysis. Clinical engineers are involved with the application of the latest technology to health care.

      Medical Imaging combines knowledge of a unique physical phenomenon (sound, radiation, magnetism, etc.) with high speed electronic data processing, analysis and display to generate an image. Often, these images can be obtained with minimal or completely noninvasive procedures, making them less painful and more readily repeatable than invasive techniques.

      Orthopaedic Bioengineering is the specialty where methods of engineering and computational mechanics have been applied for the understanding of the function of bones, joints and muscles, and for the design of artificial joint replacements. Orthopaedic bioengineers analyze the friction, lubrication and wear characteristics of natural and artificial joints; they perform stress analysis of the musculoskeletal system; and they develop artificial biomaterials (biologic and synthetic) for replacement of bones, cartilages, ligaments, tendons, meniscus and intervertebral discs. They often perform gait and motion analyses for sports performance and patient outcome following surgical procedures. Orthopaedic bioengineers also pursue fundamental studies on cellular function, and mechano-signal transduction.

      Rehabilitation Engineering is a growing specialty area of biomedical engineering. Rehabilitation engineers enhance the capabilities and improve the quality of life for individuals with physical and cognitive impairments. They are involved in prosthetics, the development of home, workplace and transportation modifications and the design of assistive technology that enhance seating and positioning, mobility, and communication. Rehabilitation engineers are also developing hardware and software computer adaptations and cognitive aids to assist people with cognitive difficulties.

      Systems Physiology is the term used to describe that aspect of biomedical engineering in which engineering strategies, techniques and tools are used to gain a comprehensive and integrated understanding of the function of living organisms ranging from bacteria to humans. Computer modeling is used in the analysis of experimental data and in formulating mathematical descriptions of physiological events. In research, predictor models are used in designing new experiments to refine our knowledge. Living systems have highly regulated feedback control systems that can be examined with state-of-the-art techniques. Examples are the biochemistry of metabolism and the control of limb movements.

      These specialty areas frequently depend on each other. Often, the biomedical engineer who works in an applied field will use knowledge gathered by biomedical engineers working in other areas. For example, the design of an artificial hip is greatly aided by studies on anatomy, bone biomechanics, gait analysis, and biomaterial compatibility. The forces that are applied to the hip can be considered in the design and material selection for the prosthesis. Similarly, the design of systems to electrically stimulate paralyzed muscle to move in a controlled way uses knowledge of the behavior of the human musculoskeletal system. The selection of appropriate materials used in these devices falls within the realm of the biomaterials engineer.

Examples of Specific Activities

      Work done by biomedical engineers may include a wide range of activities such as:

• Artificial organs (hearing aids, cardiac pacemakers, artificial kidneys and hearts, blood oxygenators, synthetic blood vessels, joints, arms, and legs).
• Automated patient monitoring (during surgery or in intensive care, healthy persons in unusual environments, such as astronauts in space or underwater divers at great depth).
• Blood chemistry sensors (potassium, sodium, O2, CO2, and pH).
• Advanced therapeutic and surgical devices (laser system for eye surgery, automated delivery of insulin, etc.).
• Application of expert systems and artificial intelligence to clinical decision making (computer-based systems for diagnosing diseases).
• Design of optimal clinical laboratories (computerized analyzer for blood samples, cardiac catheterization laboratory, etc.).
• Medical imaging systems (ultrasound, computer assisted tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, etc.).
• Computer modeling of physiologic systems (blood pressure control, renal function, visual and auditory nervous circuits, etc.).
• Biomaterials design (mechanical, transport and biocompatibility properties of implantable artificial materials).
• Biomechanics of injury and wound healing (gait analysis, application of growth factors, etc.).
• Sports medicine (rehabilitation, external support devices, etc.)

WHERE DO BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERS WORK

Biomedical engineers are employed in universities, in industry, in hospitals, in research facilities of educational and medical institutions, in teaching, and in government regulatory agencies. They often serve a coordinating or interfacing function, using their background in both the engineering and medical fields. In industry, they may create designs where an in-depth understanding of living systems and of technology is essential. They may be involved in performance testing of new or proposed products. Government positions often involve product testing and safety, as well as establishing safety standards for devices. In the hospital, the biomedical engineer may provide advice on the selection and use of medical equipment, as well as supervising its performance testing and maintenance. They may also build customized devices for special health care or research needs. In research institutions, biomedical engineers supervise laboratories and equipment, and participate in or direct research activities in collaboration with other researchers with such backgrounds as medicine, physiology, and nursing. Some biomedical engineers are technical advisors for marketing departments of companies and some are in management positions.

Some biomedical engineers also have advanced training in other fields. For example, many biomedical engineers also have an M.D. degree, thereby combining an understanding of advanced technology with direct patient care or clinical research.

 WHAT DOES THE FUTURE DEMAND LOOK LIKE FOR BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

           The United States Department of Labor reports that “the number of biomedical engineering jobs will increase by 31.4 percent through 2010---double the rate for all other jobs combined.” Overall job growth in this field will average 15.2% through the end of the decade. The U.S. Department of Labor report attributed the rapid rise in biomedical engineering jobs in part to an aging U.S. population and the increasing demand for improved medical devices and systems. Specific growth areas cited in the report included computer-assisted surgery, cellular and tissue engineering, rehabilitation, and orthopedic engineering.

 WHAT ARE SOME LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

·          Biomedical engineers play a significant role in mapping the human genome, robotics, tissue engineering, and in nanotechnology.

·          Biomedical engineering has the highest percentage of female students in all of the engineering specialties.

·          30% of biomedical engineering graduates are employed in manufacturing.

·          Many of students are going in Bio-Medical Engineering. The percentage of students applying to Bio-Medical is as high as 79% .

·          There are 15 chapters of the national biomedical engineering honor society, Alpha Eta Mu Beta, located on college campuses throughout the United States.

·          BMES has more than 87 student chapters on college and university campuses.

·          Judith A. Resnick, PhD, a U.S. astronaut who died when Challenger exploded in 1986, was a biomedical engineer working at NIH from 1974 to 1977.

·          Willem Kolff, MD PhD, a biomedical engineer and physician, designed early artificial hearts and the first kidney dialysis machine. He supervised the first implanted artificial heart into Barney Clark, and his latest work is on a portable artificial lung.

·          The National Institutes of Health has a new institute for biomedical engineering and imaging. The Institute (NIBIB) coordinates with the biomedical imaging and bioengineering programs of other agencies and NIH Institutes to support imaging and engineering research with potential medical applications and facilitates the transfer of such technologies to medical applications.

·          ARLINGTON, Va., March 19, 2004 --- The number of biomedical engineering jobs will climb almost twice as fast as the overall average for a 26.1 percent gain by 2012, according to the government's new long-range forecast

·          Overall job growth is projected to be 14.8 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The bureau's growth projections have declined slightly since the last national survey two years ago. At that time, the government foresaw a 31.4 percent increase in biomedical engineering jobs over 10 years and a 15.2 percent overall growth.

·          The new report released last month counted 7,600 biomedical engineering jobs in the United States as of 2002 and projected that number to exceed 10,000 by 2012

·          Thirty-eight percent of all biomedical engineers counted in the government survey worked in manufacturing industries, principally in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing and in industries that make medical instruments and supplies. Other big employers are hospitals and government agencies

·          "The aging of the population and the focus on health issues will increase the demand for better medical devices and equipment designed by biomedical engineers," the report said. Areas of rapid development cited by the report include computer-assisted surgery and molecular, cellular and tissue engineering as well as rehabilitation and orthopedic engineering.

·          "Along with the demand for more sophisticated medical equipment and procedures is an increased concern for cost efficiency and effectiveness that also will boost demand for biomedical engineers," the report said. "However, because of the growing interest in this field, the number of degrees granted in biomedical engineering has increased greatly, leading to the potential for competition for jobs."

·          As it stands, biomedical engineers earned a median annual income of $60,410 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $58,320 and $88,830. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $48,450, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $107,520, the report said.

·          The government's 10-year employment forecast is watched closely by career guidance counselors and institutions that plan education and training programs. The projections are also used in studies of long-range employment trends

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