1. Bioengineering is the use of engineering to solve problems in biology, medicine, human behavior, health, and the environment.
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2. What Do Bioengineers Do?
design replacements for body parts
design devices and machines to diagnosis and treat disease and to help rehabilitate patients with impairments
develop biological systems for use in cleaning up the environment
design equipment and devices that help people work more efficiently and safely

3. Prostheses
Prostheses are replacement or enhancement body parts for people with disabilities.
Biomechanics is the study of the natural movements of the body.
Designers use knowledge of biomechanics to design prostheses that move like natural limbs.

4. Myoelectric Devices
A myoelectric signal is an electrical pulse sent by the brain through the nerve endings to the muscles. This causes the muscles to flex.
Prosthetic devices have been designed that pick up myoelectric signals and use them to control a limb.

5. Sensory Systems
Temperature sensors placed in a prosthetic device respond to heat and cold.
The sensors signal a computer within the device, which then sends a signal through wires to the skin to relay the sensation of heat or cold.

6. Prosthetic Implants Prosthetic implants are placed inside the body.
Materials used for implants must be acceptable to the body’s immune system.
Titanium, a strong, lightweight metal, is used for prosthetic hip and knee joints.
Plastics such as woven acrylic are used to make flexible artificial veins.

7. Diagnosis
Diagnosis is the process of examining a patient and studying symptoms to find out what illness or condition the patient has.
Bioengineers have designed medical equipment that can measure, monitor, and show images of the body’s natural functions as well as illnesses and diseases.

8. Measuring Human Electrical Signals
An electroencephalograph (EEG) records the electrical activity of the brain.
An electrocardiograph (ECG or EKG) records the electrical currents of the heart.

9. Imaging the Human Body
Medical imaging is the process of taking pictures of the inside of the human body.
Various technologies are used.
X rays
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Computerized tomography (CT)
Ultrasound

10. X Rays X rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation.
X-ray machines send X rays through the body and onto film that is sensitive to X rays.
X rays can pierce deep into materials like bone, tissue, fat, and muscle.
Each material absorbs X rays differently and produces a different image on the film.

11. Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses magnetic energy, radio waves, and computers.
MRI makes 3D images of areas as small as one millimeter.

12. Computerized Tomography
Computerized tomography (CT) uses a rotating X-ray machine, rather than magnetic fields, to create an image on the computer.
CT is also called computerized axial tomography, or CAT.

13. Ultrasound
Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves that create echoes when they bounce off body structures.
A computer interprets the echoes and generates an image.

14. Treatment
Machines designed by bioengineers are used to monitor and record body functions and even help perform surgery.
For example, LASIK surgery corrects people’s vision by reshaping the cornea of the eye using a computer-controlled laser.

15. Ergonomics
Ergonomics is the study and design of equipment and devices that fit the human body, its movement, and its thinking patterns.
Ergonomics is also called human factors engineering.
Human factors engineers design workstations and work environments that help people work more efficiently.

16. Bioprocessing
Bioprocessing is bioengineering technology that uses living microorganisms or parts of organisms to change materials from one form to another.
Bioprocessing is used to help clean the environment with microorganisms, such as algae in ponds and acid-producing bacteria in sewage treatment.