Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
foundation for students' future studies in biofluid mechanics, whether in a more advanced
course or in a research environment.
In writing this textbook, we hope to meet the needs of both the students and the
instructors who may use this textbook. We believe that this textbook is written in a way
that instructors can use the material presented either as the sole course material (introduc-
tory biofluid mechanics course) or as the foundation for more in-depth discussions of bio-
fluid mechanics (upper-division/graduate courses). However, an introductory textbook,
such as this one, cannot include every detail of importance to biofluid mechanics. There
are multiple exceptional references that can be used in conjunction with this textbook.
Therefore, we encourage you to visit your local libraries or to search the Internet for more
in-depth details that might be missing from this textbook. This textbook cannot and does
not aim to replace traditional fluid mechanics or physiology textbooks, but it will provide
the information necessary to further our discussion. At the end of most of the chapters, we
provide suggested references for the students and instructors,
if more information is
desired.
Your instructor and other students in your class are other good sources to learn about
biofluid mechanics. However, we believe that you will learn these principles best by work-
ing example problems at home. We included extensive examples within the text, all
completely worked out, so you can see the level of detail needed to solve biofluid mechan-
ics problems. We also included homework problems at the end of each chapter for you to
practice on your own time. Your success in this course will depend not only on the mate-
rial presented within this textbook and from your instructor's notes, but also on your will-
ingness to comprehend the material and work biofluid mechanics problems yourself. We
hope that this textbook can serve as a stepping-stone on your way to learning biofluid
mechanics principles and applications. If you feel there are shortcomings or omissions in
this textbook, please let us know so that the situation can be remedied in future editions.
1.2 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
One of the first questions that should arise when studying biomedical engineering (this
term will be used interchangeably with bioengineering) is, What is biomedical engineer-
ing? The National Institutes of Health working definition (as of July 24, 1997) of biomedi-
cal engineering is
Biomedical engineering integrates physical, chemical, mathematical, and computational sciences and
engineering principles to study biology, medicine, behavior, and health. It advances fundamental concepts;
creates knowledge from the molecular to the organ systems level; and develops innovative biologics, mate-
rials, processes, implants, devices and informatics approaches for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment
of disease, for patient rehabilitation, and for improving health.
This definition is broad and can encompass many different engineering disciplines and,
in fact, biomedical engineers can apply electrical, mechanical, chemical, and materials
engineering laws to the study of biological tissue and to how these tissues function and
respond to different conditions. Biomedical engineers also focus on many other
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