Electronic engineers play a vital role in designing equipment for the healthcare Industry, because they are responsible for each electronic design of all digital appliances. They also ensure safety and reliability in accordance with industry standards in each scenario.
This article explores the most important considerations of electronic engineering in biomedical technology, and also justifies the importance of electronic engineering.
The medical industry has grown significantly over the past few decades, with dramatic advances in electronics, computers and life sciences. Therefore, it is clear that more and more electronic engineers are entering this field. Indeed biomedical technology relies strongly on Electronic Engineering. However, designing medical electronics is not easy, and engineers must be prepared to face the most acceptable challenges and regulations in biomedical.
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Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical Engineering (also known as Medical Electronics) is an electrical engineering speciality that involves designing and maintaining electronic devices for the medical industry. Applications of electronic devices in the medical field have helped health care practitioners perform their jobs, change medical procedures, and improve both patients’ clinical results and overall quality of life.
With the sophistication of treatment, electronics have become more efficient. Rapid miniaturization also caused electronics to become smaller and have more parts. Electronic medical equipment is classified roughly into life support equipment, hearing aids, pacemakers, patient monitoring equipment, etc.
Best Examples of Electronic engineering in Biomedical technology
Here are some best examples which justify this point of how biomedical technology depends on electronics. Each biomedical equipment of biomedical is designed on an electric circuit.
Blood Gas Analyzer
The best application for electronics in the medical field is gas analyzers. It calculates the pressure of chemical elements such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen and oxygen in the blood. The outcomes can be examined to decide whether blood is abnormal, particularly after two days of illness. By using these results, people can observe their poor physical condition at a basic level only within their home.
It is often implemented as a biomedical technology in hospitals. Blood collected from humans will be introduced into a chemical device strip with a selective particle electrode. The result will be digitally displayed by an ADC and output to a microcomputer using a device amplifier and an analogue electronic device. And the work will be displayed in a digital display module in terms of millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), kilopascal (kPa), carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide measurements.
Electroencephalograph
ECG is an electronic medical device used to record the electrical activity of the scalp with an electroencephalograph due to the firing of nerve cells in the brain. The data obtained from the electrodes attached to the scalp can be processed and displayed on the screen. It treats brain disorders such as sleep disorders, brain death, and mental health problems. These devices are used in medical settings to treat mental problems.
Pacemaker
The heart requires electrical impulses from the sinoatrial node to function normally. Abnormal heart rhythms and some health factors may prevent this from happening. In such cases, the heart cannot receive a constant rate of signals from the sinus node. Here we can get an idea of how much Electronic Design is necessary for the pacemaker.
Pacemakers are devices that rework missing or slow heartbeats by generating electrical pulses, so the heart will beat normally The sensing amplifier boosts the low-power ECG indication. The amplified output is then passed to the timer to provide an accurate timing pulse. The output driver injects electrical timing pulses through the electrodes into the patient. Thus, you can count the heartbeat in a normal operating state.
Hearing aid
Hearing aids are classified as implantable devices that help people with hearing loss. it amplifies the sound that reaches their ears . Electronic Design of this device includes portable battery-powered devices . The hearing aid contains a microphone that picks up ambient sound waves and converts them into digital signals. The amplifier increases the strength of the input signal and sends it to the ear through a speaker attached in the device
Electronic cardiac monitor
It is operated in all biomedical electronics. Its electronic design is used to display the electrical and pressure waveforms of the heart system.
By inserting specific electrodes into various body elements, the ECG of the heart system can be obtained. ECG can show irregular heart movements and heart problems. It is used during treatment, especially during surgery.
Oximeter
An oximeter is the best substitute for invasive methods to determine oxygen and pulse.
Pulse oximetry estimates the quantity of oxygen in the blood and the pulse rate and displays it on a digital graphic display. It is painless to determine the amount of oxygen supplied to blood tissue and the pulse rate.
Tele-saturation
Oxygen saturation (SpO2 ) indicates the amount of oxygen that your blood carries. A digital (optical) Tele-saturator can monitor the SpO2 value without a time limit. It is displayed to the doctor in real-time.
Defibrillator
Defibrillators are used in emergencies, such as heart attacks. It affects cardiac rhythms, including ventricular fibrillation and arrhythmias. The procedure of its electronic design involves when the electric shock provided to the heart causes depolarization of the heart muscle and reproduces the normal conduction of the electrical pulse of heat. There are many defibrillators, including implantable, transvenous, and extracorporeal.
Biocompatibility of electronic device
Biocompatibility refers to how well the electronic device fits into the host or patient’s biological system. Meeting the biocompatibility requirements of the medical industry is one of the most challenging procedures for engineers designing embedded medical electronics.
Biocompatibility testing is done by identifying the physical effects of electronic medical devices, particularly their potential harmful physiological effects. ISO 10993-1:2018 is a recognized standard in the medical industry that allows manufacturers and design engineers to understand better how the properties of device parts, manufacturing processes, and sterilization affects the biocompatibility of medical electronics.
Closing Thoughts
Electronic design now becomes the basis of every circuit operated in any tech field. When we talk about any advanced technology used in the biomedical field, it means electronic engineers develop its basic design. They understand the technology and apply it to design the circuit of appliances used in the medical industry.
So we can say that biomedical relies strongly on Electronic Engineering. Nowadays, digitalization is everywhere, and each digital system has an electronic design. No one can deny the importance of electronic engineering in biomedical technology.
