Biomedical engineering, also known as “bioengineering”, is a branch of engineering that combines the design and problem solving techniques of engineering with biological and medical sciences to improve health-related and medical problems. Bioengineers have made many positive changes in many lives today. By designing live-saving objects such as artificial hearts, dialysis machines, and surgical lasers bioengineers have helped save many lives.
Biomedical engineers dates back to over 3000 years with the Egyptians. Egyptians created a wooden prosthesis to replace the big toe. Since then, bioengineering has developed a great deal. A big improvement this century has been the development of artificial lungs. When polio hit the states, many patients were put into a respirator made of two vacuum cleaners and an iron box. This invention, designed by Philip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw, was nicknamed the “iron lung”. The iron lung pumped air into and out of the patient, allowing the patient to breathe. Iron lungs are replaced today with artificial lungs, which are more advanced and are p...
The Iron lung was one of the first medical advances made in the field of biomedical engineering (“Iron” par. 7). Philip Drinker, a professor at Harvard University, was the first person to invent an artificial respirator: the iron lung (Pendergast 119). Drinker was an American born who majored in chemical engineering (Schlager par. 2). He invented the iron lung in the year 1928 (Baughman 343). With the development of the iron lung, Philip Drinker established a way to save a patient’s life (Pendergast 119). He developed a machine that could work on anybody, no matter their body type (“Iron” par. 4). The iron lung, sometimes known as the Drinker tank, was invented to be used as an artificial respirator. This invention, however, was a means to keep patients with Poliomyelitis breathing, but it could not be used as a cure (“Poliomyelitis par. 7).
Many people feel that biology has become more advanced than physics. Biology has in fact become the new focus of the future as we tend to use it a lot in our daily lives. The study of Biotechnology is known as the branch of molecular biology that studies the use of microorganisms to perform specific industrial processes. This study shows that our lives can be transformed.
Polydactyly is the most commonly observed congenital digital anomaly of the hands and feet appearing in 1 in every 500 live births. The condition is characterized by an abnormal amount of digits per hand in which the extra digits may develop bilaterally, or it may occur on both or just one hand, foot, or some other combination. Usually the extra digits that develop are either small pieces of soft tissue or fully formed in appearance. It is noted that in around 80% to 90% of cases involve the peripheral digits, although it is possible that all digits may be affected. Depending on the location of the extra digit, polydactyly can be further classified into three types: pre-, post-, and central axial forms. Polydactyly can occur as an isolated disorder (non-syndromic) or alongside other symptoms or disease. Isolated polydactyly is typically caused by the inheritance of an autosomal dominant gene mutation, meaning the cause is not due to a multifactorial trait. However, most cases of polydactylism are linked to specific syndromes that cause congenital anomalies through a variety of gene mutations.
The relationship between disability and biomedical model is very complex; to understand the concept one needs to understand the biomedical model and the definition of disability. disability is a term that describes a person’s inability to perform daily activities. Biomedical model states that a disability is caused by a disease, disorder, mental or physical condition that deprives a person of the basic necessity of life. Furthermore, the medical model views a disabled person as functionally limited as it defines the norms for human functioning. From these two definitions, it can be concluded that both disability and the medical model are interlinked in ways of how a person’s inability to function have an impact in the interaction of society.
Medical technology today has achieved remarkable feats in prolonging the lives of human beings. Respirators can support a patient's failin...
Medicine has always played a major role in the world. Without out it there would be a lot of sick individuals and no one would be here to cure them. Medicine has come a long way thanks to technology. Technology has allowed medicine to grow a lot and still aids medicine to go further.
... the usage of bioresorbable scaffold involves by selecting certain phenotype of cell and implants it on permeable substance before being implanted to the pulmonary position. The scaffold is presume to degenerate as the cells grow. The last approach involves constructing a mold for leaflets similar to the aortic shape using the collagen constructs (Vesely 2005).
The Biomedical Model constitutes the absence of disease, pain and defect of the body (Fanany, 2012). (Baum, 2012) describes the Biomedical Model in reference to the human body “like clockwork”. He believes that the body is like a machine. Every individual part that fits together must be able to function interpedently for the rest of the body to work – just like a clock.
John Haven Emerson was born February 5, 1906 in New York City. He was the son of Dr. Haven Emerson (A highly respected New York City Commissioner of health for many years). John Emerson was a self-taught American inventor of biomedical devices. Emerson specialized in respiratory equipment. (www.poliopalace.org,n.d.) In 1931, John Emerson introduced and improved upon a less expensive iron lung. The Emerson iron lung had a bed that could slide in and out of the cylinder as needed, and the tank had portal windows, which allowed attendants to reach in and adjust limbs, sheets, or hot packs. The patient lies within the chamber, which when sealed provides an effectively oscillating atmospheric pressure. The Emerson lung was lighter, quieter,
There are different types of engineers in the world. There are the engineers that analyze the mechanics of a system that make it function, engineers that apply electricity to improve our daily lives, and then there are engineers who develop solutions to solve human health problems. The term bioengineering contains both the words biology and engineering, meaning that engineering concepts are applied to improve the lives of humans. Bioengineering is the future to improved health and living styles for human beings. I am fond to bioengineering because it improves the living of people who are in a body that cannot satisfy their daily needs of simply walking or moving at ease. I have a friend that is incapable to walk; therefore he will be sitting down in a wheelchair for the rest of his life unless bioengineering will help him finally get up to his feet for the first time of his life. It...
Any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use to benefit the lives of humans or other organisms, in bettering their lives. (Essays, UK. (November 2013). Can Genetic Engineering Be Regarded As Biotechnology Biology?. April 2014, http://www.ukessays.com/essays/biology/can-genetic-engineering-be-regarded-as-biotechnology-biology-essay.php?cref=1)
Many great inventions have been made through research in biomedical engineering, for example, genetic engineering, cloning, and insulin. After insulin has been invented, there are still a lot of problems with the purity and the quantity of the insulin produced. Biomedical engineering devised a way to produce large quantities of insulin with a higher level of purity, which has saved a lot of human lives. Although biomedical engineering just been officially founded 200 years ago, its practice has been with us for centuries. According to The Whitaker Foundation website, 3,000-year-old mummy from Thebes, which uncovered by German archeologists, with a wooden prosthetic tied to its foot to serve as a big toe is the oldest known limb prosthesis and Egyptian listen to the internal of human anatomy using a hollow reed, which is what today’s stethoscope. No matter what the date, biomedical engineering has provided advances in medical technology to improve human health. These advances by biomedical engineering have created a significant impact to our lives. I have determined to become a biomedical engineer. Biomedical engineering will have a good prospect because it will become one of the most important careers in the future.
Genetic engineering has been around since the 1960’s although major experiments have not been really noticed until the 1990’s. The science comes in different forms the two major being cloning and genetic reconstruction. Cloning is the duplicating of one organism and making an exact copy. For example in 1996 the creation of the clone sheep named Dolly the first mammal to be cloned which was a great achievement. The other form, genetic reconstruction, is used to replace genes within humans to help or enhance the life of an unborn child for a medical reason or just for the preference of a parent.
The field of biotechnology is absolutely huge. There is the medical area and agriculture area of development. The agriculture area concentrates on developing hybrid crops and manipulating genes so that the plants natural defenses activate. Although this is interesting and has an effect on our lives, I have chosen to concentrate on the medical aspect of biotechnology. I have also decided not to comment on the ethics of the new developments, since I believe that the reader should decide for oneself. More specifically, the concentration will be on the Human Genome Project, artificial organs, and companies that are involved in the biotech industry.
Biotechnology is a group of technologies that work together with living cells and their molecules to prolong life (Keener and Hoban et al., 2014). Today biotechnology can be used in a variety of ways such as in an industrial setting where they use it to create enzymes to synthesize chemicals, in an environmental setting where they use it for waste and pollution prevention and lastly it can be used in medical applications such as in pharmaceuticals, genetic engineering, DNA fingerprinting and in lastly it can be used in stem cell therapy (Keener and Hoban et al., 2014). Everyone in today’s society depends and uses biotechnology in one form or another, biotechnology is essential for our health and wellbeing.