Biomedical engineering

1. APPLICATIONS AND
ADVANCEMENTS IN
BIOMECHANICAL
ENGINEERING
A sub-field of Bio-medical Engineering
Riyad
Mohamme

2. The Discipline of Biomechanical
Engineering
 Officially defined as the “…application of
mechanical engineering principles, and the
use of new materials to biology, especially to
surgery and prosthetics.”

3. The Components of Biomechanical
Engineering
 Consists of applying concepts of mechanical
engineering to the medical field, such as:
- Thermodynamics - the study of energy
conversion between heat and mechanical
work
- Fluid Mechanics - the study of how fluids move
and the forces which act on them
- Solid mechanics - the behavior of solid matter
under external actions.

4. Applications
 The application of mechanics to biological
systems has allowed society to produce
breakthroughs in areas such as:
- Artificial organs and human limb prostheses
- Medical instrumentation
- Biomaterials
- Cellular mechanics and Tissue Engineering

5. Advancements (the interesting
part)
1. Surgical Implants
 Surgical Implants: devices
which are manufactured in
order to replace, support, or
improve an existing biological
structure.
 (Im)plants are man-made,
whereas a (trans)plant is
more likely to be made up of
human or animal tissue.
 Surgical implants which will
contact tissue consists of
materials guaranteed to not
cause rejection or infection in
the body, such as:
- Titanium
- Silicone
- Apatite (a major component
of tooth enamel and bone
mineral)

6. 2. Artificial “Organs”
 The application of Mechanical
Engineering to human biology has
resulted in the creation of
revolutionary devices, which mimic
the functions of a human organ.
 Types include, but are not limited
to: Artificial hearts and
pacemakers, artificial lungs, and
dialysis machines for the filtration
functions of the human kidney.
Cochlear implants are used to treat
those with There are even Brain
pacemakers which use electrical
signals to treat people who suffer
from epilepsy, Parkinson's disease,
major depression and other
diseases.

7. The Artificial Heart
 Two successful
manufacturers:
- 1. Syncardia™ (formerly
Jarvik™) temporary
CardioWest Total Artificial
Heart ® :
- Used as a bridge between hearts for
patients on organ waiting lists.
- more than 800 implants
- 79% of patients survived to
transplant
- sports the highest bridge-to-
transplant rate for any heart device in
the world

8. The Artificial Heart
- 2. AbioCor ® replacement
heart:
- the Massachusetts based
company AbioMed™ has produced
the AbioCor® artificial heart.
- It is fully implantable within a
patient, meaning that no wires or
tubes penetrate the skin, thus
reducing the risk of infection.
- used in patients with severe end-
stage heart disease, who have
become ineligible for heart
transplant and have no other
treatment options.
- To date, 15 patients have been
implanted with the AbioCor, with
one patient living for 512 days with
the AbioCor.

9. The AbioCor artificial heart: How
does it work?
 External battery -
This battery is worn
on a Velcro-belt pack
around the patient's
waist. Each
rechargeable battery
offers about four to
five hours of power.

10. The AbioCor artificial heart: How
does it work?
 Wireless energy-transfer
system - Officially called
the Transcutaneous
Energy Transfer (TET),
this system consists of two
coils, one internal and one
external, which transmit
power via magnetic force
from an external battery
across the skin. The
internal coil receives the
power transmitted from the
external coil and sends it
to the internal battery and
controller device.

11. The AbioCor artificial heart: How
does it work?
 Internal battery - A
rechargeable battery
is implanted inside
the patient's
abdomen. This gives
a patient 30 to 40
minutes to perform
certain activities,
such as showering,
while disconnected
from the main battery
pack.

12. The AbioCor artificial heart: How
does it work?
 Internal Controller -
This small electronic
device is implanted in
the patient's
abdominal wall. It
monitors and controls
the pumping speed
of the heart.

13. The AbioCor artificial heart: How
does it work?
 The AbioCor heart,
also referred to as the
Thoracic Unit,
connects to four
locations:
- Right atrium
- Left atrium
- Aorta
- Pulmonary artery
 The entire system
weighs about 2 pounds
(0.9 kg and is
composed of titanium
and plastic.

14. The AbioCor artificial heart: How
does it work?
 Hydraulic pump - A gear
inside the pump spins at
10,000 revolutions per
minute (rpm) to create
pressure.
 Porting valve - This valve
opens and closes to let
hydraulic fluid flow from one
side of the artificial heart to
the other. When the fluid
moves to the right, blood
gets pumped to the lungs
through an artificial
ventricle. When the fluid
moves to the left, blood gets
pumped to the rest of the
body.

15. 2. Artificial “Organs” (Continued) =
The artificial Lung
 Currently in the last stages of
development, the MC3
Company has introduced the
BioLung®.
 The BioLung® is designed to
“replace the gas exchange
function of a person’s native
lungs during recovery from
injury or illness, or until donor
lungs are available for
transplantation.”
 Expected to be marketed
commercially through various
biomedical firms, including the
partially MC3-owned Novalung,
a German company dedicated
to providing devices to treat
lung failure.

16. The Cochlear Implant
 Frequently called the
“bionic ear”, a
cochlear implant is a
surgically implanted
electronic device that
provides sound to a
person who is
profoundly deaf or
severely hard of
hearing.

17. The Cochlear Implant -
Components
 i) a microphone which
picks up sound from
the environment
 ii) a speech processor
which filters sound to
pick up audible
speech.

18. The Cochlear Implant -
Components
 iii) A transmitter, which is held
in position by a magnet placed
behind the external ear.
Electrical sound signals are
sent through a thin cable to the
transmitter, and the processed
sound signals to:
 iv) A receiver and stimulator,
which are secured in bone
beneath the skin. This converts
the signals into electric
impulses and sends them
through an internal cable to:
 v) Electrodes wound inside the
cochlea, which send the
impulses through the auditory
nerve system to the brain
stem.

19. The End Results
 The development of the artificial heart has allowed many
critical patients to survive during the waiting period of an
organ transplant.
 Surgical Implants have allowed those crippled by injury or
suffering from degenerative diseases to be able to return to
their everyday lives.
 In the most recent worldwide census, approximately
188,000 people worldwide had received cochlear implants
so far. This means that 188,000 people considered
permanently deaf have been given the ability to hear sound.
 The applications and advancements made through
biomechanical engineering have given countless human
beings not only relief from illness and discomfort, but also a
second chance at life.

20. Sources
 "NEJM -- Cardiac Replacement with a Total Artificial Heart as a
Bridge to Transplantation." The New England Journal of Medicine:
Research & Review Articles on Diseases & Clinical Practice. Web.
24 Feb. 2010.
<http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/351/9/859>.
 MSN Encarta Online Dictionary. Encarta, 2009. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.
<http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561536710/biomechanical_engi
neering.html>.
 "Biomaterial." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 22 Feb.
2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomedical_material>.
 "Artificial Lung (Biolung®)." Medical Device Design and
Development — MC3. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.
<http://www.mc3corp.com/case_studies/artificial_lung_bio/>.
 "HeartReplacement.com: Abiocore." HeartReplacement.com: Index.
Web. 22 Feb. 2010.
<http://www.heartreplacement.com/abiocore.html>.