Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
approximately one of every three deaths in the United States, which is approximately 1.5
times more deaths than caused by cancer. Coronary heart disease (or atherosclerosis) is the
leading cause of death in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
generates national maps documenting the country-level heart disease death rates and the
heart stroke death rates by county (refer to
http://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/statistics.
than 34 years, and both provide evidence for where the highest incident rates of heart disease
occur in the United States. It is clear that states along the lower Mississippi River valley have
a high rate of deaths associated with cardiovascular diseases, approaching 75% of all docu-
mented deaths.
Biofluid mechanics is not only concerned with the cardiovascular system and cardiovas-
cular diseases; lung disease is also a common area of interest for biofluid mechanics engi-
neers. Lung cancer is probably the first disease that comes to mind, and you are probably
also considering that the most likely origin of lung cancer is exposure to cigarette smoke
(either firsthand or secondhand). Indeed, approximately 85% of deaths associated with
lung cancer are associated with cigarette smoking. Burning cigarettes emit close to 4000
different chemicals, with approximately 50 of these known carcinogens. Interestingly,
smoking cigarettes that have a reduced amount of tar does not significantly decrease the
chances of developing lung cancer because of the plethora of other carcinogens within the
cigarette. As a fact, tobacco companies are allowed to add approximately 600 chemicals to
their product, including ammonia, 1-butanol, caffeine, cocoa, ethanol, 1-octanol, raisin
juice, sodium hydroxide, and urea. In excess, some of the mentioned additives can lead to
death. Furthermore, smoking is not just associated with lung cancer, but a smoker can suc-
cumb to other cancers as well, including oral, pharynx, larynx, bladder, kidney, stomach,
and pancreatic cancer, due to the chemical additives that compose a cigarette.
To bring us back to the cardiovascular system, we would like to discuss some of the
milestones that have transformed the study of cardiovascular diseases and the manage-
ment of cardiovascular pathologies. Some of the key advances that relate to the cardiovas-
cular system are highlighted below:
1538: Andreas Vesalius published a new anatomy textbook, which contained two large
and accurate anatomical charts dedicated to the heart.
1628: William Harvey, concluded that the heart is a pump and that the veins contain
valves to prevent the backflow of blood.
1715: Raymond de Vieussens, established that the heart consists of two chambers that
isolate arterial and venous blood.
1733: Stephen Hales, made the first blood pressure measurements, in a horse.
1816: Ren´ Laennec invented the earliest stethoscope to listen to blood moving through
the heart.
1891: cardiac chest compression was used to revive patients (reported by Friedrich
Maass).
1902: Willem Einthoven invented the electrocardiograph and later received the Nobel
Prize for this development.
1929: Werner Forssmann inserted a “catheter” into his own arm and passed it through
his own cardiovascular system into his own right atrium. He then had colleagues take
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