What is biomedical engineering and what kind of work do these?
As a biomedical engineering student I hope to give you a deeper insight.Yes, biomedical engineering involves the applications of physics, radiology, imaging principles, programming to develop medical equipments. 1. Imaging modalities:These medical equipments are used to examine the interior of a human body to some extent in a noninvasive way. Modalities like CT, MRI, PET, SPECT, ultrasound sonography, gamma camera, X-ray machine, fluoroscopy machines, etc. come under nonivasive imaging modality. Endoscopy is another imaging technique which is invasive. 2. Assistive and life supportive devices:A biomedical engineer designs devices like hearing aids, artificial heart, artificial kidney (the dialysis machine), heart-lung machine, ventilators, bedside monitors (which monitors patient's vital parameters like heart rate, breathing rate, spo2, oxygen in blood, etc). Biomedical engineers also design wheel chairs with different types of controls (we might even have a thought controlled wheel chair in the future). Orthosis and prosthesis for handicapped and differently abled people. 3. Robotics and nanotechnology.This field of biomedical engineering involves application of robotics in healthcare. Surgical robots like Da Vinci surgical robotic arm has helped the surgeon in controlling the surgery from another room! Biomems, lab on chip, cell chips and microfluidics will revolutionize the healthcare industry. 4. Image storage and communicationStorage of the patient data is one of the biggest issues amongst hospitals. Picture Archival and Communication System (PACS) and Digital Image storage and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) is now in trend to help the hospitals store and share patient data with each other. This field involves the use of computer programming, image processing and computer technology. Which can be again done by a biomedical engineer. Teleradiology will help connect a patient from one end of the globe to the radiologist who is at the other end of the globe. 5. Nuclear medicineImaging sometimes need the use of radioactive material. A biomedical engineer researches the radioactive materials for biocompatibility and most suitable drug which can be used. 6. Artificial organs and implantsDental implants, stents, pacemaker, hip joints, knee joints, sutures, bionic eye, etc. are products of biomedical engineering. 7. DiagnosisDiagnosis of diseases using Radio Immuno Assay (RIA) also falls into biomedical engineering to some extent. Spirometers, audiometers, etc. help in diagnosing medical conditions in patients. In short, almost all kind of electronic or mechanical equipments associated with healthcare are the products of biomedical engineering (I know it sounds like I'm exaggerating but it is what it is). Now, the careers for a biomedical engineer has a vast scope. Most of them include working as a technician or clinical engineer at a hospital. Or working as a service engineer or system engineer at healthcare companies. Or taking up sales and marketing profession in medical devices. These are the most common professions chosen by a fresh biomedical engineer. Experienced engineers can take up jobs as a consultant for hospitals who helps hospitals in choosing the right equipment they need. Or one can pursue MBA in healthcare management (I don't have enough knowledge about this). A specialization in a particular stream of this vast course is also preferred. There are also job profiles like interfacing analyst which involves interfacing of different imaging modalities. And many more.......... Conclusion: Biomedical engineering is a field with vast scope which is continuously thriving to improve the healthcare industry and raise the quality of healthcare to help save millions of precious lives. And as a biomedical engineer, we contribute our part in serving the society. Proud to be one. :D