Biomedical Engineering 1 - Introduction to Biomedical Engineering                     

Fall Quarter 2007                                                      

                                                                                   

Julia Gelfand
Applied Sciences Librarian
Science Library 228
jgelfand@uci.edu
949-824-4971

 

Kristine Ferry
Business Librarian
Please email for assistance at kferry@uci.edu.

                                                           

Goals for Instruction Session:  Review assignments & course objectives:

  1. Develop familiarity with resources to support course assignments

      a.  Review background information for the guest speakers - by author/speaker & topic in appropriate databases - may be helpful to consult the UCI  Course Catalog or Website      for background information, too

  1. Biomedical Engineering: background on resources and trends in the profession, the industry, your project and future research
  2. Learn about recent trends in biomedical engineering and how to conduct appropriate literature or information searches
  3. Complete all parts of the project assignment - I) Reverse Engineering II) Design Engineering

 

HINTS:

  1. Do NOT PROCRASTINATE - Get started right away. 
  2. Begin an outline
  3. Share information widely with group members
  4. Record your research trail - where you search for and find information and always copy the citation to the source so that it can be entered among your references

 

I.  Background - The Profession of Biomedical Engineer

 

“Apply knowledge of engineering, biology, and biomechanical principles to the design, development, and evaluation of biological and health systems and products, such as artificial organs, prostheses, instrumentation, medical information systems, and health management and care deliver systems” (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2003 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (see http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172031.htm

 

In 2004, engineers held 1.4 million jobs – 9,700 of them were biomedical engineers. (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2004-2005 Edition.) "Employment of biomedical engineers is expected to grow "faster than the average" for all occupations through 2014." (http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#outlook and http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#emply)

 

 

Additional Resources:

 

Occupational Information Network. O’NET OnLine.

Gives wages and trends for variety of occupations, including forecasts for 2010 and average annual job openings. (O’Net SOC for biomedical engineer is 17-2031.00)

 

Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2004-2005 Edition

 

Charting the Milestones of Biomedical Engineering.  IEEE-EMB, 2002.   Science Library Reference QT 36N 359 2002

 

The Biomedical Engineering Society is a good resource for programmatic and academic developments in the field and holds an annual conference.

 

As defined by the Whitaker Foundation, Biomedical engineering is a “discipline that advances knowledge in engineering, biology and medicine, and improves human health through cross-disciplinary activities that integrate the engineering sciences with the biomedical sciences and clinical practice. It includes:

1. The acquisition of new knowledge and understanding of living systems through the innovative and substantive application of experimental and analytical techniques based on the engineering sciences.

2. The development of new devices, algorithms, processes and systems that advance biology and medicine and improve medical practice and health care delivery.”  (http://www.whitaker.org/glance/definition.html)

Areas of specialization currently supported at UC Irvine:   

·         cellular, tissue and genetic engineering; functional tissue engineering

·         biomaterials - artificial organs, transplantation, skin grafts

·         physiologic modeling, simulation, and control (orthopedic bioengineering and rehabilitative devices)

·         biomedical instrumentation and biosensors, MEMS

·         medical imaging

·         drug delivery systems

·         medical informatics & artificial intelligence

 

II. The Assignment – Design Project

 

You have two options:

  1. an Invention of an instrument for scientific inquiries
  2. a Device for clinical application or a gadget for home care or another example of biomedical engineering application

For each of these directives you will need to do significant background research to cover:

·         phases of design - need, definition of the problem, hypothesis, synthesis, analysis, optimization, evaluation, presentation of product

·         consideration of geometry and material properties (ex, synthetics, etc)

·         consideration of tools (software, instrumentation, devices, support, chips, programming, etc)

·         design parameters and error analysis under various initial and boundary conditions

You will also want to cover and discuss how the product evolves including some Reverse Engineering - correcting for earlier defects, experiences, flaws, making improvements by studying the product:

                  -      technically

-          functionally

-          scientifically

-          design (product size, shape, material, etc.)

-          social impact of product

-          economic contribution

-          ethical service (ethics)

-          compliance to governmental regulatory requirements & patent issuance

 

You will have to conduct a Literature Search and Review - this report should be organized to cover these points:

·         Goal of the Literature Search - hypothesis, statement of purpose, motivation, initial interest

·         Introduction - method of conducting search - what databases, search engines were used; output that was retrieved

·         Categories of literature uncovered or retrieved - books, book chapters, reference works, journal articles, conference proceedings, patents, marketing & sales data and plans, financials, academic research, commercial and government websites, etc

·         Summary - experience of the search

·        List of major references or output in bibliographic form - remember to use consistent citation formatting and to practice cross-referencing when you can from other elements in the body of the report.  For additional information about citation format, you may want to use APA Style and consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. available at all Library Reference Desks at BF 76.7 P83 2001.  There is also a Pocket Guide to APA at Langson Library Reference Desk at BF 76.7 P426 2004 and online help on the Online Reference Resources website

·        Remember that this assignment is an interdisciplinary exercise and will require conducting a literature search in different disciplines including engineering, medicine, life sciences, business and patents.

 

 

Below you will find suggestions, selected resources, as well as some hints and directions for your research.

 

III. Biomedical Engineering Research

 

As a biomedical engineering student you will be introduced to and use materials in a variety of subjects to allow for a greater expertise and functionality, including:

  • Materials science – polymers, ceramics, etc.
  • Chemistry
  • Biology and Physiology
  • Clinical Medicine
  • Mathematics
  • Computer/Information Science
  • Business and Technology Applications

 

The books at UC Irvine Libraries are arranged by call number. Appropriate ranges include QT 36-37 and WB 140. This material will be at the Science Library.

 

The following online catalogs can be used to locate materials:

 

 

Both catalogs can be searched under the subject heading biomedical engineering or by keyword.

 

Selected Subject Bibliography and Reference Tools.  There is a growing list of eBooks published by CRC Press in Biomedical engineering available through ENGnetBASE and they can be accessed directly at categories, “Biomedical Engineering," “Lasers & Optics” and Nanoscience/Nanotechnology."

 

 (all titles are available in ANTPAC) with links when available electronically (SL=Science Library):

 

            series of eBooks from EngNetBase.com under Biomedical Engineering - all published by CRC

 

            Access Science - online equivalent of McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology

Encyclopedia of biomaterials and biomedical engineering / Gary E. Wnek and Gary L. Bowlin, eds.  New York: Marcel Dekker, 2004.  SL REF QT13 E562 2004, 2 vols.

 

Dekker encyclopedia of nanoscience and nanotechnology/ James A. Schwarz, ed.. New York: Marcel Dekker, 2004.  SL REF QC 176.8 N35 D43 2004, 5 vols.

 

Encyclopedia of nanoscience and nanotechnology / Hari Singh Nalwa, ed..  Stevenson Ranch, CA: American Scientific Publishers, 2004.  SL REF T174.7 E53, 10 vols.

 

Biomaterials and bioengineering handbook / Donald L. Wise, New York: Marcel Dekker, 2000, SCI-Bar, QT 37 B615-2 2000

 

Biomaterials engineering and devices / edited by Donald L. Wise ... [et al.] Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 2000, 2 volumes, Science Library–Bar, QT 37 B615-3 2000

 

Biomedical engineering handbook, 2d ed.., Editor-in-chief, Joseph D. Bronzino, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2006  also at Science Library Ref QT 29 B615 2006.  Earlier edition from 2000 available online at The biomedical engineering handbook,, 2000

 

Biomedical technology and devices handbook / edited by James Moore, George Zouridakis, Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2004, Science Library-Ref, QT 36 B6157 2004

 

Clinical engineering handbook / Joseph F. Dyro, ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2004.  SL QT 36 C641 2004

 

Design of biomedical devices and systems / Paul H. King, Richard C. Fries, New York: Marcel Dekker, 2003, Science Library-Bar, QT 36 K54d 2003

 

Enabling technologies: body image and body function / Malcolm MacLachlan and Pamela Gallagher.  Edinburgh: Churchill Livingston, 2004.  SL Qt 36 M161e 2004

 

Functional tissue engineering / Farshid Guilak ... [et al.], editors, New York: Springer, 2003, Science Library-Bar, QT 37 F979 2003

 

Medical device register, Greenwich, CT: DSI, c1981-

Science Library-Bar (latest in Reference), W26 M489

 

New biology for engineers and computer scientists / Aydin Tozeren and Stephen W. Byers.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2004.  SL QH 506 T68 2004

 

Noninvasive instrumentation and measurement in medical diagnosis / Robert B. Northrop, Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2002, SCI-Bar, WB 141 N877n 2002 

 

Standard handbook of biomedical engineering and design / Myer Kutz, ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Science Library-Ref, QT 36 S 785 2003

 

Thomas register of American manufacturers, New York, Thomas Pub. Co. 2005.  Science Library-Ref T 12 T6 2005

 

Annals of Biomedical Engineering - online from 1998 - earlier volume years are at    

SL Drum W1 AN597

Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering (2000 - present)

 

 

IV. Abstract and Indexing services

 

The vast majority of the research done in biomedical engineering is published in biomedical and clinical medicine literature. To find this literature you will use the following article databases (they cover journal literature and conference proceedings and index and abstract journal articles and conference proceedings).  These resources are accessible from the UC Irvine Libraries Web page under Online Resources and will offer e-Links to online access or holdings information of the indexed content.

 

PubMed MEDLINE -  indexes literature of clinical medicine and related fields.

 

MedlinePlus - a basic medical encyclopedia particularly good for background and tracing the beginnings of many of these devices within the             clinical context.

 

INSPEC - (1969+) includes significant coverage of the literature physics, mathematics, computer science and of related conference proceedings;  Full Retrospective Index and Archive  from 1898-1968

 

Web of Science (1945+) - Interdisciplinary coverage of major journal literature

 

COMPENDEX (1969+) - Major index of the Engineering literature.

 

Ergonomics Abstracts (1969+) - very interdisciplinary coverage of workplace environment apparatuses and devices to improve living conditions under different physical             constraints

 

Business Source Premier - Major access to the business/management/economics literature, both scholarly and trade sources.

 

In addition to the listed above databases the following packages of online journals are available from professional societies and commercial publishers:

 

IEEE Xplore - access to fulltext content in IEEE publications, including journals, conferences proceedings and standards.

 

ASME - access to the fulltext journals and conference proceedings and books issues by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

 

ACM Digital Library - fulltext content from the Association of Computer Machinery publications

 

SPIE Digital Library - fulltext publications from the International Society for Optical Engineering.  Proceedings of the Print access at Science Library – Bar; Call number: TS510 .P632.   SPIE Digital Library also includes online access from 1998 to the journals, Optical Engineering, Journal of Electronic Imaging, Journal of Biomedical Optics, Journal of Microlithography, Microfabrication and Microsystems.

 

More resources and comprehensive research guide for the field of biomedical engineering is available form the UCI Libraries Subject Guide for Biomedical Engineering 

 

 

V. Patent Information - additional information is available on the Patents Guide

 

U. S. Patent and Trademark Office - Official source for U.S. patents and trademarks in full text from 1976 (full page images available since 1790) with links to the Library of Congress for copyright information. Definitions, application forms and instructions, handbooks, notices, and patent attorney directory are just a few of the products provided. Includes design patents and reissued patents as well as patents currently in application process (coverage starts March 2001). Full-text searching is available.

 

            Google Patents - latest of the patent indexes to appear - there is lots of help; not as formalized a search process - contains 7 million patents

 

Free Patents Online - another source for access to fulltext patents from Patent #4,000.000 forward.

 

LexisNexis Academic Universe - Under "Legal Research" is a Patent Research section for searching of Patents (1971 to date), by individual category of Design Patents, Plant Patents or Utility Patents. Can also search by keyword, assignee, inventor, patent number, classification, and lawyer.

 

VI. Industry Outlook and Trends

Also see the Business Subject Page for additional resources & direction.

 

In many cases, to find information for the growing biomedical engineering industry, it is best to identify the appropriate North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) or Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes. Search under more specific terms (do not use biomedical engineering). For example:

-          medical equipment and supplies, manufacturing

-          surgical, medical and dental instruments and supplies

-          pharmaceuticals, manufacturing

-          ophthalmic goods

-          laboratory apparatus and analytical optical, measuring and controlling instruments

 

 

Selected business resources for consideration (available at UC Irvine Libraries):

 

North American industry classification system : United States, 2002 / Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget. NAICS was developed jointly by the United States, Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America. It uses 6-digit hierarchical coding system to classify the economic activity into twenty industry sectors.

Online access: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS26109

Print access : Langson Library Reference or SL Ref HF1041.5 N674 2002 

 

The SIC is a standard identification system that designates a 4-digit code for U.S. industries and services.

Print access: Langson Library – Gov. Info- U.S. PrEx 2.6/2:In 27/987

U.S. Industry & Trade Outlook - only available online since 2000.

Print access: Langson Library-Reference, HC 101 U54 2000. Latest at the Reference Desk.

 

Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage

Company and industry information. Look under "Biotechnology", "Healthcare: Pharmaceuticals", and "Healthcare: Products & Supplies". Industry surveys include; Current Environment; Industry Profile; Industry Trends; How the Industry Operates; Key Industry Ratios and Statistics; How to Analyze a Company, and Industry References

Also, check Sub-Industry Review for health care equipment.

 

IBIS World

Contains research reports on hundreds of U.S. industries. Each report provides key statistics for the industry, and discusses market characteristics, segmentation, industry conditions, e.g. barriers to entry, cost structure, industry outlook, technology and impact of globalization, the major companies in the industry and the current and historic performance of the industry. Look under “Biotechnology”, “Medical Devices”, and “Pharmaceuticals”

 

Investext Plus

Investment research, industry analysis and reports. Look under “Biotechnology”, “Health Care”, and “Pharmaceuticals”

 

Forrester - Forrester focuses on the business implications of technology change and is considered the leading source for forecasting. Forrester's research publications analyze a broad range of technology areas such as new media, computing, software, networking, telecommunications and the Internet, and project how technology trends will affect businesses, consumers, and society. Forrester reports include up-to-date industry statistics, as well as illustrative graphs and charts.  Requires login using UCINetID and password.

 

Gartner - Web site provides access to the research and advisory firm's information technology news, research reports, and business and market analysis, and includes product descriptions and comparisons, information on trends, and a calendar of upcoming conferences and events for IT managers, specialists, and business interests.  Requires login using UCINetID and password.

 

Market share information

 

Market Share Reporter: An Annual Compilation of reported market share data on companies, products and services, Detroit, MI : Gale Research, c1991-. 2003 is the latest edition. Includes also some market forecasts if data is available. (See Drug Delivery Systems on p. 145) The data has a reference to the original source of information.

Print access:

Langson Library Reference, HF 5410 M35 2003

 

RDS TablebaseSearch for market size or rankings of products, services, and companies, extracted from trade publications. Also includes information on brand identity, capital expenditures, imports and exports, merchandising, mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing, and R&D. Please logout when finished.

 

Selected sources for business and trade literature (both fulltext):

           

Factiva 

 

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe (includes newspapers)under NEWS

           

VII. Statistical Information

 

STAT-USA - Economic and foreign trade statistics

 

Lexis-Nexis Statistical Universe

 

VIII. Additional Information

If you need additional information or help in using any of these products, please schedule an appointment with the Liaison Librarian with contact information at the top of this handout.  Project Groups may find it useful to schedule an appointment to review its direction. The Ask a Librarian service for online reference is available for eMail reference, CHAT, appointments for reference consultation, immediate assistance by telephone or walk-in at the Science & Langson Libraries.  The Reference Desks are open at the Science Library during the week until 6pm and on weekends from 1-5;  & at the Langson Library until 9pm from Sunday - Thursday and on Fridays from 9-5 & weekends from 1-5.  The only day the Libraries are closed this quarter is Thanksgiving Day.  For additional information consult Library Hours.