What Do Biomedical Engineers Study?
Biomedical engineers study how to improve biological function through engineering principles, bridging the gap between engineering and medicine. An artificial heart and a magnetic resonance imaging machine are examples of biomedical engineering achievements. The career requires completion of an engineering degree and extensive coursework in biology.
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Identification
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Biomedical engineering combines the study of engineering, biology and medicine to improve medical procedures, create equipment and eradicate disease. These engineers research and develop artificial organs and limbs and improve the mechanical devices used in hospitals and clinics. Many biomedical engineers work in research alongside chemists, physicists and other scientists in universities, hospitals and private companies searching for answers to complex medical problems and designing new equipment and methodology.
Function
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Biomedical engineers are responsible for many advances in modern medicine. The heart-lung machine, for instance, keeps a surgical patient alive by pumping and oxygenating the blood. Kidney dialysis machines remove waste from the blood, allowing people with renal failure to continue living relatively normal lives. Biomedical engineers have developed lasers to use in delicate eye surgery, in noninvasive clinical diagnostic procedures and in scanning microscopes. Minimally invasive surgical techniques such as laparoscopy and surgical robotics are a result of biomedical engineering research.
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Considerations
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Biomedical engineers typically obtain a bachelor's degree in an area of engineering such as industrial, electrical, chemical or mechanical. They add coursework in biology, anatomy and physiology, chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics. A few schools, such as Yale University, offer a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering, but most only offer the specialty at the graduate level.
Types
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Most biomedical engineers hold a master's degree because of the high level of scientific and technical knowledge required in the combination of fields. A master's degree in biomedical science or biomedical engineering involves coursework in advanced biology and chemistry, along with options such as medical instrumentation, neuroengineering, tissue engineering, biofluid mechanics, genetic engineering, diagnostic imaging, orthopedic bioengineering, engineering electrophysiology and pharmaceutical design.
Potential
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Careers are available in medical equipment and supplies manufacturing, pharmaceutical companies, university and hospital research programs, medical and surgical clinics and hospitals, and in the United States government, from regulatory agencies to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A biomedical engineer working for NASA might study robotics design or improvements in hardware to enhance health and comfort for space mission crews.
Biomedical engineers had an average salary of about $79,600 in 2007, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those working in research and development had average salaries at about $93,000. Indeed.com shows higher average salaries for specialties including product development at $102,000 and supervisory at $105,000. Higher salaries also are available to those with doctoral degrees.
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