Biomedical Engineering

Written By: Caroline Kim

January 16, 2024

Slowly but surely, this blog will develop into one with focuses in the neural medicine and biology. Today, we’ll start off with an introduction to a related field and how the two work hand in hand. 

It will probably be a good idea to begin this journey about BME (biomedical engineering) and neuroscience by defining the two terms. Michigan Tech. defines Biomedical Engineering as “... advances that improve human health and health care at all levels and is the application of the principles and problem-solving techniques of engineering to biology and medicine”(1). As the field is very extensive, the more specific terminology varies person to person. This is where the integration of neuroscience comes in. My main interests lie in neuroscience, within the medical field, and neural engineering is certainly a field that intrigues me. Others take on the task of honing in on prosthetics or medical imaging. I view neuroscience as the study of the “how of the brain” whereas psychology might be considered more as the “why of the brain”; it has multitudes of applications whether it be in a research laboratory, medical engineering, neurosurgery, etc. 

Within my main scope of interests lie the application of NeuroHealth and NeuroTech. John Hopkins describes Neurohealth as “improving, restoring, and augmenting normal and impaired neural function, focusing on the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of nervous system disorders” and NeuroTech as “designing and deploying tools to sense and control the brain and human behavior, including neuromorphic engineering, prosthetic devices, and robots” (2). What we can conclude from here is that neuro technology is a necessary component of neuro health, and can be brought together through biomedical engineering. 

Advances in neuro engineering have made significant impacts today; the NIH states “... restored mobility to people with paralysis, relieved symptoms of movement disorders, reduced chronic pain, restored the sense of hearing, and provided sensory perception to individuals with sensory deficits”(3). One kind of approach involves utilizing interfaces with the nervous system to moderate neurological activity, ranging from external worn devices to more invasive methods that involve implants (NIH) (3). Deep Brain Stimulation has been involved in repairing motor impairment, Spinal Cord Stimulation for chronic pain, and neural devices to mitigate siezures/hearing/sight (NIH) (3). An more common devices would be cochlear implants, which works to restore hearing. As there are an extensive amount of different neuro technologies in medicine, we’ll spend the upcoming time diving more in depth into neuroscience in medicine.

Sources:

1. Technological University, Michigan. “What Is Biomedical Engineering?” Michigan Technological University, 2024, www.mtu.edu/biomedical/department/what-is/. Accessed 16 Jan. 2024. 

2. Biomedical Enginering, John Hopkins. “Neuroengineering.” Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering, 21 Sept. 2021, www.bme.jhu.edu/research/research-areas/neuroengineering/. 

3. Ereifej, Evon S et al. “Neural engineering: the process, applications, and its role in the future of medicine.” Journal of neural engineering vol. 16,6 063002. 12 Nov. 2019, doi:10.1088/1741-2552/ab4869