Industry Perspective
A revolution in disease diagnosis began in the 1970s with the introduction of Computerized Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Ultrasonic Imaging. The biomedical field also has been responsible for the development of new therapeutic devices such as the Cochlear implant, life-saving implantable Defibrillators, Pacemakers, Vascular Stent technology etc., has made it possible for minimally invasive procedures to replace major surgery and many more developments.
Cell and Tissue Engineering also has to emerge as a clinical reality. Products for skin replacement are in clinical use and progress has been made in developing technologies for repair of Cartilage, Bone, Heart, Lungs, Liver, Kidney, Skeletal muscle, Blood vessels, the Nervous system and Urological disorders.
Now the economy is booming, healthcare is an important issue and industry is looking to expand. It is a good, dynamic time. The medical giants like Siemens, Philips, Toshiba, GE medicals, Hitachi etc., dominate the world in the healthcare marketplace, which translates into an optimistic view of the future for their field. The growth and domination of the healthcare industry worldwide are strong indicators that Biomedical Engineers will be doing well in the coming years. This translates into a wealth of opportunities for graduates possessing Bioengineering skills.
Information Technology application in healthcare is changing the way medical centres and hospitals are approaching the management of clinical information that includes billing, radiographic information and clinical information. Doctors want the most up-to-date clinical information about the bedside and in the operating room. So, all leading hospitals abroad have Biomedical Engineering departments and are now started in India, and those in the field have made a great contribution to the maintenance of high technology medical devices.
The material behaviour inside the body is different, so we are changing the way we think about the implantable device. This represents new opportunities in material design. The most visible contribution of Biomedical Engineering to current clinical practice involves instrumentation for diagnosis, therapy and rehabilitation. Biomaterial, Rehabilitation Engineering, Computer-assisted Surgery and Medical Imaging are all areas that draw on engineering, science and medical applications. One of the rapidly expanding fields is the field of nuclear medicine. New imaging technologies are providing the ability to interrogate and manipulate living biological specimens dynamically to yield information at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels. Nuclear medicine has gone from an imaging and cancer treatment tool to a tool that can be used to treat such deadly diseases such as heart disease, which is one, the leading causes of death in the world.