BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

A New, Promising Interdisciplinary Field

Wei R. Chen, Ph.D.

ProfessorDirector of Biomedical Engineering Program

Department of Physics and EngineeringUniversity of Central Oklahoma

September 13, 2005 UCO Intro to Engineering Class

OUTLINE

• What is Biomedical Engineering– Professions in BME

– Jobs for Biomedical Engineering Graduates

• BME in US -- current status• The New BME program at UCO

– Program design and curriculum

• Examples of Research in BME– Biomedical imaging of cancer

– Biomedical engineering modalities for cancer treatment

WHAT IS BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

• Application of engineering skills, principles, and tools to problems in biology, medicine, and health care

• Interdisciplinary field requiring a unique curriculum that provides students with an understanding of both engineering principles and the life sciences

WHAT DO BME STUDENTS LEARN

• Basic human physiology and functions

• Human biological systems in terms of fundamental physics and engineering principles

• Basic chemistry knowledge and laboratory techniques

• Knowledge of biomaterials, biomechanics and related fields

WHAT DO BME STUDENTS LEARN

• Latest instrumentation and methodologies in biomedical engineering

• Use computers in a biomedical setting

• Research experience in biomedical settings

• Practical biomedical engineering experience through job-related training, industrial internships, and biomedical design projects

WHERE DO BME UNDERGRADUATES GO

• Professional Workforce – Medical device and process manufacturers– Medical research organizations– Government medical agencies and hospitals

• Graduate Schools– Biomedical engineering– Other engineering and related disciplines

• Other Professional Schools – Medical, dental, and law

JOBS FOR BME GRADUATES

• designing and constructing cardiac pacemakers, defibrillators, artificial kidneys, blood oxygenators, hearts, blood vessels, joints, arms, and legs.

• designing computer systems to monitor patients during surgery or in intensive care, or to monitor healthy persons in unusual environments, such as astronauts in space or underwater divers at great depth.

JOBS FOR BME GRADUATES

• designing and building sensors to measure blood chemistry, such as potassium, sodium, O2, CO2, and pH.

• designing instruments and devices for therapeutic uses, such as a laser system for eye surgery or a device for automated delivery of insulin.

• constructing and implementing mathematical/computer models of physiological systems.

JOBS FOR BME GRADUATES

• designing clinical laboratories and other units within the hospital and health care delivery system that utilize advanced technology.

• designing, building and investigating medical imaging systems based on X-rays (computer assisted tomography), isotopes (position emission tomography), magnetic fields (magnetic resonance imaging), ultrasound, or newer modalities.

JOBS FOR BME GRADUATES

• designing and constructing biomaterials and determining the mechanical, transport, and biocompatibility properties of implantable artificial materials.

• investigating the biomechanics of injury and wound healing.

JOBS FOR BME GRADUATES

• implementing new diagnostic procedures, especially those requiring engineering analyses to determine parameters that are not directly accessible to measurements, such as in the lungs or heart.

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING IN THE UNITED STATES

• History– Starting in 1960’s

– Johns Hopkins University

• Current Status – 117 colleges and universities– 102 undergraduate degree programs– 105 master’s degree programs– 101 doctoral degree programs

The Whitaker Foundation, 2005

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING INTHE UNITED STATES

–In the Past Twenty Years

• BME Undergraduate Enrollment– UP 200%

• BME Graduate Enrollment– UP 300%

• Other Engineering Enrollment– Slightly decline

BME STUDENT ENROLLMENT IN US

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1,000

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7,000

1979

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UndergraduateGraduate

The Whitaker Foundation, 2001

Predicted Job Increase in US in 2010

31.4%

15.2%

9.4%

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OverallEngineering

Jobs

US OverallJobs

BiomedicalEngineering

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ease

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U.S. Department of Labor, 2002

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING JOBS

Survey, National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2002

Average Starting Salary Offer (2001):

Bachelor BME Candidate: $47,850Master BME Candidate: $62,600

BME Enrollemnt at UCO

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Enrollment (Proposed)Enrollment (Real)Enrollment (Estimated)

BME Graduates From UCO

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Graduates (Real)Graduates (Expected)

UCO BME GRADUATES

Graduate SchoolsEnvironment CompaniesBME Software ApplicationsOther Transitional work

NEW BME UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM AT UCO

• Business Trend– Biotechnology booming– Next major discipline (PRISM, Sept. 1999)

• Employment – Increasing demands (World, U.S. and OK)– Important, fulfilling profession– High pay– Saving lives

BIOTECH INDUSTRY IN OKLAHOMA

• Early development stage

• Shortage of trained BME personnel

• Lack of undergraduate BME program

• Companies leave states

• Students leave states to pursue BME education (to Texas)

BME CURRICULUM PROGRAM AT UCOConcentration A: Pre-Medicine

• Biology: 11 hours

• Chemistry: 25 hours

• Engineering: 39 hours

• Math and Computer Science: 14 hours

• Physics: 8 hours

• General Ed: 29 hours

• Total: 126 hours

BME CURRICULUM PROGRAM AT UCOConcentration B: Bio-Instrumentation

• Biology: 11 hours

• Chemistry: 10 hours

• Engineering: 45 hours

• Math and Computer Science: 14 hours

• Physics: 18 hours

• General Ed: 29 hours

• Total: 127 hours

BME PROGRAM AT UCO

• Major Goals – Provide Oklahoma students with an

opportunity to pursue a BME undergraduate degree

– Prepare students to pursue a BME doctoral degree at OU Bioengineering Center and OSU Center for Laser and Photonics Research

– Establish, in collaboration with OU, OUHSC, OSU and health industries, a regional center for BME undergraduate education

BME PROGRAM AT UCO

• Major Goals – Facilitate for students with associate degree

in BME from community colleges to pursue a BS degree in BME

– Establish collaboration with local biomedical companies for internship and job training

– Graduate at least ten students each year with BS degree in BME, with at least five students continuing BME education in graduate school

SUPPORT FOR THE BME PROGRAM AT UCO

• Support from departments of Colleges of Math and Science at UCO– Biology– Chemistry– Computer Science– Mathematics– Physics and Engineering

SUPPORT FOR THE BME PROGRAM AT UCO

• Support from External Institutions– OU Health Center– OU Bioengineering Center– OU Department of Physiology and

Biophysics– OU Department of Cell Biology– OSU Veterinary Laser Surgery Center– OSU Sensor Technology Center

SUPPORT FOR THE BME PROGRAM AT UCO

• Support from Oklahoma Industry– UroCor– ZymeTx– Wound Healing of Oklahoma– SoundTech– Nanomagnetic– Etc.

CURRENT BME COURSES

• Principle of Biomedical Engineering

– Introduction to applications of physics and engineering principles to biomedical systems

– Study of biomedical functions of the human body using mechanics, electricity and magnetism, optics, and thermodynamics

– Responses of human biomedical functions to different bioengineering applications

NEW BME COURSES AT UCO

• Signals and Control Systems & Lab

– Signal Analysis in Time Domain

– Signal Analysis in Frequency Domain

– System Controls

– Background Information and Experiments

• Biomedical Imaging

– Introduction to applications of physics and engineering principles in medical diagnostics and treatment

– Methods and instrumentation in biomedical imaging such as x-ray, MRI, and ultrasound, etc.

– Biomedical imaging processing

NEW BME COURSES AT UCO

• Biomedical Instrumentation

– Measurement of analysis of biological systems

– Components of instrumentation:• Transducer, circuits

– Display and analysis of biomedical signals

– Data acquisition and controls

– Safety

NEW BME COURSES AT UCO

• BME Senior Engineering Design I & II

– Identify design-related project

– Written project proposal

– Team work

– Design, develop, test, and evaluate project

– Project report

NEW BME COURSES AT UCO

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING – PRODUCE OF SYNERGISM

• DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES – Physical Sciences – Physics and Chemistry– Mathematics and Computer– Biological Sciences and Medicine– Engineering

• DIFFERENT EFFORTS – Education– Health Care– Industry

BME RESEARCH AT UCO

• Cancer Treatment Using Selective Photothermal Interactions– Dye targeted tissue– Noninvasive laser treatment

• Photo Dynamic Immuno Therapy in Treatment of Metastatic Tumors– Laser– Laser-absorbing dye– Immunoadjuvant

BME RESEARCH AT UCO

• X-Ray Biomedical Imaging– Breast cancer detection– Imaging guided laser treatment

• Laser-Tissue Interactions– Energy and temperature distributions– Experiments– Monte Carlo simulations

• Photo Dynamic Immuno Therapy– Dye-immunoadjuvant injection– Noninvasive laser irradiation– Long-term survival– Resistance to tumor rechallenge– Adoptive immunity transfer– Treatment of metastatic tumors

EXAMPLES OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AT UCO

Scintillator

CCD

Optical Lens

Rat

X-Ray Tube

(a) (b)

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING IN RESEARCH

• Tumor Detection– Imaging technique– Tumor localization for injection

• Distribution of Drug in Tumor– Transport phenomenon – Chemical engineering

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING IN RESEARCH

• Laser Energy Delivery-Engineering– Dosage calculation and optimization– Optical system for energy delivery– Engineering design

• Thermal Tissue Interaction– Energy and temperature distribution – Mathematics and computer modeling

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING IN RESEARCH

• Optimization of Laser Treatment– Laser parameters– Dye dose: concentration & volume– Immunoadjuvant dose: concentration &

volume

• Anti-Tumor Immune Response– Tumor immunology – Molecular biology

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING IN RESEARCH

• Interdisciplinary Research– Biology– Chemistry– Physics– Engineering– Mathematics– Computer modeling

FURTHER INFORMATION ON BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

• Biomedical Engineering Handbook

• Related Web Sites:– Biomedical Engineering Society

• http://mecca.org/BME/BMES/society/

– The Whitaker Foundation for BME• http://www.whitaker.org/

– BME Net• http://www.bmenet.org/BMEnet/

FURTHER INFORMATION ON BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

• Related Web Sites:– BME Program at Johns Hopkins University

• http://www.bme.jhu.edu/

– BME Program at University of Virginia• http://www.med.virginia.edu/bme/

– BME Program at Texas A&M University• http://biomed.tamu.edu/

THE END