COURSE:ABE 206

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING:
WHAT A CAREER?

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING: WHAT

A CAREER?

PRESENTED BY
DR K.A. AKANDE
DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN,
NIGERIA

What is Biomedical Engineering (BME) ?

Biomedical Engineering is the use of engineering tools to

analyze and solve problems in biology and medicine. It is the

design of new medical instruments, devices, software,
therapies or procedures and it is highly multidisciplinary.
Biomedical Engineering involves the application of concepts,

knowledge, and approaches of almost all engineering

disciplines (for examples: Electrical and Electronics,
Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, Materials, and Computer
Engineering) to solve specific healthcare related problems.
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What kind of career do you imagine for yourself?

Doctor? Lawyer? Scientist? Engineer? Teacher?

CEO? Manager? Salesperson?

A university degree in biomedical engineering

will prepare you for all of these professions and

more.
Biomedical engineers work in industry, academic

institutions, hospitals and government agencies.

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How do biomedical engineers differ from

other engineers?
Biomedical engineers integrate biology and medicine

with engineering to solve problems related to living

systems.
Biomedical engineers are required to have a solid

foundation in a more traditional engineering

discipline, such as electrical, mechanical, chemical,
civil, metallurgical and materials engineering.
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What types of university courses are

required by biomedical engineer?
Biomedical engineers must have a solid
foundation in biology, chemistry, physics,
mathematics, engineering, humanities,
physiology, biochemistry, inorganic and organic
chemistry, general physics, electronic circuits
and instrumentation design, statics and
dynamics, signals and systems, biomaterials,
thermodynamics, transport phenomenon, and
engineering design.
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Typical specialties
include:
Bioelectronics
Biomechanics
Biomaterials
Physiologic systems
Biological signal processing
Rehabilitation engineering
Telemedicine
Virtual reality
Robotic aided surgery, and clinical engineering.
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Newer specialties include

Cellular and tissue engineering
Neural engineering
Biocomputing and bioinformatics.

How much education does a biomedical engineer require?

A minimum of four to five years of university education.
A Master's or Doctoral degree offers the biomedical

engineer greater opportunities in research and development.

Many biomedical engineers go on to medical school and

dental school.

Biomedical engineers even choose to enter law school,

planning to work with patent law and intellectual property

related to biomedical inventions.
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What kind of practical experience can be gained while

training to be a biomedical engineer?
Summer internships with hospitals, medical device

and pharmaceutical companies.

Research experiences at academic institutions and

government agencies.

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The key areas of biomedical engineering are:

Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics involves developing and using computer tools

to collect and analyze data related to medicine and biology.
BioMEMS

Bio Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) are the

integration of mechanical elements, sensors, actuators, and
electronics on a silicon chip. For examples: development of
micro-robots to perform surgery inside the body, and a device
that could be implanted inside the body to deliver drugs on the
body's demand.
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Biomaterials
Biomaterials are substances that are engineered for use in devices or

implants that must interact with living tissue.

Example:
Coatings that fight infection common in artificial joint implants.

Biomechanics
Biomechanics is

the mechanics applied to biology. This includes

the study of motion, material deformation, and fluid flow.
Examples:
Fluid dynamics involved in blood circulation and the
development of artificial hearts.
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Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a set of powerful tools that employs

living organisms (or parts of organisms) to make or

modify products, improve plants or animals, or develop
micro-organisms for specific usage.
For examples:
The earliest efforts in biotechnology involved
traditional animal and plant breeding techniques, and
the use of yeast in making bread, beer, wine and cheese.
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This emerging interdisciplinary field involves study

of the brain and nervous system and encompasses

areas such as the replacement or restoration of lost
sensory and motor abilities, for example, retinal
implants toSystems
partially restore
Neural
andsight.
Engineering
Electrical stimulation of paralyzed muscles to assist a
person in standing.
Robot arms that are controlled by signals from the
motor cortex in the brain.
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Physiological Systems Modeling

Many recently improved medical diagnostic
techniques and therapeutic innovations have
been a result of physiological systems
modeling. In this field, models of physiological
processes (e.g. the control of limb movements,
the biochemistry of metabolism) are developed
to gain a better understanding of the function
of living organisms.
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Clinical Engineering

Clinical Engineers support and advance

patients care by applying engineering and
managerial skills to healthcare technology.

Clinical engineers can be based in hospitals,

where responsibilities can include managing

the hospitals medical equipment systems for
safety and effectiveness.
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Genomics
Genomics is a new discipline that involves the
mapping, sequencing, and analyzing of genomes
- the set of all the DNA in an organism.
A full understanding of how genes function in
normal and/or diseased states can lead to
improved detection, diagnosis, and treatment of
disease.
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Micro and Nanotechnology

These fields include the development of
microscopic force sensors that can identify
changing tissue properties as a way to help
surgeons remove only unhealthy tissue, e.g.
using nanometer length cantilever beams that
bend with cardiac protein levels in ways that
can help doctors in the early and rapid
diagnosis of heart attacks.
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Rehabilitation Engineering
This is the application of science and technology to

improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.

This can include designing augmentative and
alternative communication systems for people who
cannot communicate in traditional ways, making
computers more accessible for people with
disabilities, developing new materials and designs for
wheelchairs, and making prosthetic legs for runners in
the Paralympics.
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ERGONOMICS
Ergonomics, is the engineering science concerned

with the physical and psychological relationship

between machines and the people who use them.
The field of ergonomics is also sometimes called

human or human-factors engineering, engineering

psychology, and biotechnology.

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Robotics in Surgery

Robotics in surgery includes the use of robotic and

image processing systems to interactively assist a

medical team both in planning and executing a
surgery.

These new techniques can minimize the side

effects of surgery by providing smaller incisions,

less trauma, and more precision, while also
decreasing costs.
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Radiology
It refers to the use of radioactive substances
such as x-ray, magnetic fields as in magnetic
resonance imaging, and ultrasound to create
images of the body, its organs and structures.
These images can be used in the diagnosis and
treatment of disease, as well as to guide
doctors in image-guided surgery

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Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear medicine scans the detected radiation coming
from a radiopharmaceutical that is inside a patients body.
In contrast, other imaging procedures (such as X-ray and
CT scan) obtain images by using devices that send
radiation through the body.
Nuclear medicine is also different from other imaging
procedures in that it determines the presence of disease
based on biological changes in tissue rather than changes
in anatomy.
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Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy treatment of a patient requires an
individual planning, which includes mainly
two areas: the medical and physical treatment
planning taking into account of radiobiological
aspects that; all body cells can be damaged or
killed by radiation, but tumor cells are more
sensitive to radiation than normal cells.
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Radiotherapy equipment such as Linear Accelerator

(LINAC) uses this principle to damage beyond repair; or
kills the abnormal cancer cells in a tumor.
This equipment is used in successful radiation
therapy to deliver a dose of radiation to the
tumor while ensuring minimum radiation to
the normal tissue.

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LINAC EQUIPMENT LOCATIONS IN NIGERIA

Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).
Uthman Danfodio University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH),

Sokoto.

University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu.

University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin.
National Hospital, Abuja.
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DIGITAL LINEAR ACCELERATOR (LINAC)

BY ELEKTA

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CONCLUSION
Biomedical Engineering is indeed an interdisciplinary
field which is highly needed in Nigeria.
The few Biomedical Engineering programs established at
LUTH, ABUTH, UMTH, FUTO and now at UNILORIN
are not enough to produce the great numbers of
Biomedical Engineers needed for the repairs, maintenance
and application of the high-tech biomedical equipment in
Nigerias hospitals; not to talk of research in different
areas of biomedical engineering.
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION

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