CRICOS: 00116K Biomedical Engineer: Design products and procedures that solve medical problems. These include artificial organs, prostheses, instrumentation, medical information systems, and health management and care delivery systems.

CRICOS: 00116K Heart Transplant: 1.Biomedical Scientist determines blood flow and heart functions 2.Biomedical Engineer uses this information to design the artificial heart 3.Doctor carries out surgery and monitors patient health

CRICOS: 00116K Replacing Damaged Skin 1.Biomedical Scientist establishes how the artificial skin will be tolerated by the body. 2.Biomolecular Engineer designs, operates and maintains the process to grow the synthetic skin (tissue engineering). 3.Doctor operates to graft the artificial skin to the body.

CRICOS: 00116K Repairing a Damaged Hip 1.Biomedical Scientist establishes how the hip joint functions in the body 2.Biomedical Engineer designs the prosthesis (artificial hip) 3.Doctor operates on the patient and monitors the recovery

CRICOS: 00116K Repairing Damaged Bones 1.Biomedical Scientist establishes how the bones function in the body. 2.Biomedical Engineer designs the equipment to be used during surgery to ensure correct alignment. 3.Doctor operates on the patient and monitors the recovery.

CRICOS: 00116K Health Care Food & Agriculture Environmental Research Energy Regulatory Finance

biomedical engineering imaging biomechanics bioinfomatics system engineering tissue engineering prosthetic devices system modelling clinical engineering health engineering

The need to know: Bioengineering involves the use of technology to alter or improve living things. All cells make proteins Living things need a wide variety of proteins to carry out the processes that keep them healthy and alive.

Various diseases can destroy groups of cells that produce essential proteins. For example: diabetes is often caused by the lack of a protein called insulin. In people with this kind of diabetes, many or all the cells that produce insulin have died. So…how can doctors treat this problem?....replace the protein??...Well, it is not that easy! So why so hard?

Proteins may be hard to produce. There might not be enough of the protein to treat all the people who need it. This is where the bioengineer comes in…

First….a few things you need to know… Genes are instructions in the cell…for the cell. If the cells that make insulin die, the genes cannot do their job, and the protein will not be made.

Bioengineers found a way around this…they transfer proteins needed into bacteria cells (and other types too) The bacteria cells that contain the recipe work as factories to make more of the protein. But, why bacteria? Bacterias multiply quickly. When they multiply, they pass their genes to the next generation. If the bacteria have a gene for a human insulin

Other bioengineering bacteria are used to make drugs to treat diseases caused by viruses. One example is interferon.

Interferon is used to treat viral diseases such as life threatening influenza. ( the flu) Interferon stimulates the body to make substances that stop infected cells from producing new viruses.

Bioengineering in Agriculture It can make crops resistant to diseases, herbicides, and frost. Crops for food is altered so that it is more nutritious and better tasting. The best results have been obtained from using bacterium that infects broadleaf plants. They are programmed to carry useful genes into plants.

Herbicides Herbicides are substances used to kill weeds. Some are made for killing weeds only and will not damage crops. One risk- herbicides that are crop resistant, might be considered weeds elsewhere (corn plant in a cotton field).

Food Bioengineered food must be tested for safety. One risk is moving genes from one species to another and causing allergic reactions in people. If everyone plants the same type of crop in one area and that type is vulnerable to disease, they could lose all of that crop.

Biofuels A fuel made from living things. Biofuels substituted for some of the gasoline burned in automobile engines. With the help of bacteria, ethanol can be made from cellulose, a substance in the hard fibers of plants

Section 4 Science and Engineering Technology and Society Technology provides solutions for many types of social, political, and economic needs. Intended Benefit An intended benefit is the positive purpose for which a technology is designed to be used. Unintended Consequences Unintended consequences are uses or results that engineers do not purposely include in the design of products. An unintended consequence can be beneficial.

Section 4 Science and Engineering Bioengineering, continued Assistive Bioengineering Bioengineered technologies can be classified as either assistive or adaptive. Assistive technologies are developed to help organisms with changing them. Adaptive bioengineered products change the living organism.

WHAT IS ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY? Devices, software, tools, and services that allow people who have physical and/or cognitive limitations to do tasks that would otherwise be significantly difficult for them to do.

Tech Act: Assistive technology is “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional

A Device: Any item, piece of equipment, or system that increases, maintains, or improves the functional capabilities of people with disabilities. A.T. devices help people function longer and better.

We all use A.T.