Steve Berry and Sandra Winkler Contributing Editors

Of all the advances in technology, the most beneficial must be in the area of medical science. As a result of biomedical technology, people are living longer, healthier lives and can remain active well into their later years.

With the population of many countries reaching into older ages, advances in health care will become even more important in the future.

Artificial Intervention

Biomedical technology encompasses artificial intervention by health care providers. The goal is to improve the quality of the lives of those whose bodies are no longer able—or never have been—to function at a level of what is considered “normal” or “sustainable” compared to human norms.

Biomedical technology exists to enable the person with a given disease, such as diabetes, to forget that they have the disease, so that they can live a full and normal life similar to that of the greater population.

Medical devices can be inserted into a patient’s body, either temporarily or permanently, or attached to their body.

These devices can include stents, pacemakers, defibrillators, intra-uterine devices (IUDs); joint replacements for knees, hips or other extremities; prostheses, cameras that travel through the body, devices that deliver drugs to the body and more.

Reliability Not an Option

Corrosion and biodegradation are not options for these devices. They also must be able to withstand the rigors of an active, moving body.

Electronic biomedical devices must combine biocompatibility with high reliability, small size, light weight and product longevity.

Electronics will play a key role in creating the “bionic person.”

Since pacemakers, for instance, must be surgically implanted, one would want that battery to last as long as possible. The user would also not want the pacemaker to be so large as to show or protrude from beneath the skin, nor be so heavy that the wearer feels the weight.

The advancements in the biomedical field are tremendous. Scientists are hoping someday to create an artificial pancreas for diabetics.

This “closed loop system” would be expected to provide continuous monitoring of the glucose and insulin levels within its host’s blood, and correct it as necessary without human intervention, except to replenish the insulin and glucose supplies.

An obstacle to overcome is the machine’s inability to anticipate glucose burned off in upcoming exercises to prevent insulin overdoses.

A very interesting device is a retinal implant designed to restore vision to those whose have lost—or are losing—their vision to “old age.”

This implantable retinal prosthesis consists of components mounted within and outside of the patient’s eye, with images captured with special glasses, (sort of like the character “Jordy” in the Star Trek television series). High-speed RF is used to bypass the dying photoreceptor cells in the eye, providing the user with a crude form of vision.

Many more inventions are being explored to bring “normalcy” to those in need. Companies making these biomedical devices need the latest in proven light-weight and miniaturization electronics, and the electronics industry needs to deliver.