About Biomedical Engineering..... ( Part 02 )

History of Biomedical Engineering:

Biomedical engineering has evolved over the years in response to advancements in science and technology and the practice of biomedical engineering has a long history. Throughout history, humans have made increasingly more effective devices to diagnose and treat diseases and to alleviate, rehabilitate or compensate for disabilities or injuries.

Although industry professionals have only recently started to use the term of biomedical engineering to describe the unique convergence of sciences that leads to advanced medical device creation, the practice actually goes back many centuries.

Many of the greatest developments in biomedical engineering happened during the nineteenth century. It is at this time that an increased amount of awareness was placed on the maladies that affected human life and how a physician could best deal with these issues.

Before that, even simple crutches and walking sticks were a form of engineered assistive devices, and the first person to fashion a splint for a broken bone could be considered to have been an early biomedical engineer.

Ø  The oldest known record is from a mummy with a wood and leather prosthetic toe found which is 3,000-year-old that was discovered in Thebes, Egypt. The preserved body had the first known instance of a prosthesis in the form of a wooden toe that was attached to the foot using string. 

The artifact is that the wooden toe was refitted several times to the foot of its owner.

Credit: Matjaž Kačičnik/University of Basel, LHTT.

Ø  The stethoscope is one of the most popular medical tools used today, but the truth is that it was invented nearly 200 years ago when a French doctor felt uncomfortable in leaning up to a woman’s chest to hear her heartbeat. His solution was to use a rolled up newspaper to amplify the sound of the heartbeat, thus creating the first stethoscope.

Rene Laënnec and the first stethoscope.

Click Here to read about Stethoscopes..........

Ø  Another discovery in the nineteenth century was the invention of X-rays. A physician named Wilhelm Roentgen noticed that certain rays could create an image on paper that had been coated with a specific substance.This sparked a great deal of research into how the rays could be used, with the eventual result being the common X-ray, one of the most frequently used tools for diagnosing medical problems. 

Wilhelm Roentgen with his first X-ray.

Click Here to read about X-Ray Machines...........

Ø  The other example is the evolution of hearing aids to mitigate hearing loss through sound amplification. The ear trumpet, a large horn-shaped device that was held up to the ear, was the only "viable form" of hearing assistance until the mid-20th century. Electrical devices had been developed before then, but were slow to catch on. 

Ear Trumpet

Click Here to read about Hearing Aids............

The works of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison on sound transmission and amplification in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were applied to make the first tabletop hearing aids. These were followed by the first portable (or "luggable") devices using vacuum-tube amplifiers powered by large batteries.

However, the first wearable hearing aids had to await the development of the transistor by William Shockley and his team at Bell Laboratories. Subsequent development of micro-integrated circuits and advance battery technology has led to miniature hearing aids that fit entirely within the ear canal.

Some more notable figures in the history of biomedical engineering and their contributions include:

Forrest Bird (mechanical ventilator).

John Charnley (artificial hip replacement).

Graeme Clarke (cochlear implant).

Willem Einthoven (electrocardiograph).

Wilson Greatbatch (internal cardiac pacemaker).

Charles Hufnagel (artificial heart valve).

Robert Jarvik (artificial heart).

Willem Johan Kolff (kidney dialysis).

Michel Mirowski (implantable cardioverter defibrillator).

The time after the World Wars was also an incredible era for medical innovation, with many universities beginning to offer specialized programs for biomedical engineering. With each year, professionals in the biomedical engineering industry are finding new and improved ways to treat conditions that limit a patient’s quality of life.

There is much speculation about where the future of biomedical engineering is headed, complete with robotic nanobots, genetic sequencing, and cellular scanning devices. With the Internet serving as the backbone of communication, experts in the discipline can share information and learn at a more rapid pace than ever. As modern technology progresses, the ability of the medical sciences to provide effective solutions for health issues will only increase.

What is the future of biomedical engineering?

According to BLS ( Bureau of Labor Statistics ), that employment of biomedical engineers will grow 27 percent from 2012 to 2022, much faster than the average for all occupations. Demand will be strong because an aging population is likely to need more medical care and because of increased public awareness of biomedical engineering advances and their benefits.


Click Here to Read Part 01.....


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