Egyptian Biomedical Engineers

BACKGROUND The term "Level 7" refers to the highest level of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model of the International Standards Organization (ISO). Also, HL7 does not specify a set of ISO approved specifications to occupy layers 1 to 6 under HL7's abstract message specifications. "Health Level Seven standard that enables disparate healthcare applications to exchange keys sets of clinical and administrative data." NEED FOR A STANDARD It is not uncommon today for the average hospital to have installed computer systems for admission, discharge, and transfer; clinical laboratories; radiology; billing and accounts receivable, to cite a few. Often these applications have been developed by different vendors or in-house groups, with each product having highly specific information formats. As hospitals need to share critical data among the systems has emerged. GOALS OF THE STANDARD Implemented in the widest variety of technical environments.

By combining biology and medicine with engineering, biomedical engineers develop devices and procedures that solve medical and health-related problems. Many do research, along with life scientists, chemists, and medical scientists, to develop and evaluate systems and products for use in the fields of biology and health, such as artificial organs, prostheses (artificial devices that replace missing body parts), instrumentation, medical information systems, and health management and care delivery systems. Biomedical engineers design devices used in various medical procedures, such as the computers used to analyze blood or the laser systems used in corrective eye surgery. They develop artificial organs, imaging systems such as magnetic resonance, ultrasound, and x-ray, and devices for automating insulin injections or controlling body functions. Most engineers in this specialty require a sound background in one of the basic engineering specialties, such as mechanical or electronics enginee

In its broadest sense, biomedical engineering has been with us for centuries, perhaps even thousands of years. In 2000, German archeologists uncovered a 3,000-year-old mummy from Thebes with a wooden prosthetic tied to its foot to serve as a big toe. Researchers said the wear on the bottom surface suggests that it could be the oldest known limb prosthesis. Egyptians also used hollow reeds to look and listen to the internal goings on of the human anatomy. In 1816, modesty prevented French physician Rene Laennec from placing his ear next to a young woman’s bare chest, so he rolled up a newspaper and listened through it, triggering the idea for his invention that led to today’s ubiquitous stethoscope. No matter what the date, biomedical engineering has provided advances in medical technology to improve human health. Biomedical engineering achievements range from early devices, such as crutches, platform shoes, wooden teeth, and the ever-changing cache of instruments in a doctor’s black ba

A Biomedical Engineer uses traditional engineering expertise to analyze and solve problems in biology and medicine, providing an overall enhancement of health care. Students choose the biomedical engineering field to be of service to people, to partake of the excitement of working with living systems, and to apply advanced technology to the complex problems of medical care. The biomedical engineer works with other health care professionals including physicians, nurses, therapists and technicians. Biomedical engineers may be called upon in a wide range of capacities: to design instruments, devices, and software, to bring together knowledge from many technical sources to develop new procedures, or to conduct research needed to solve clinical problems. Biomedical Engineering Society, 2003

Biomedical engineering is the application of engineering techniques and analyses to problem-solving in medicine and the biomedical sciences. In most aspects of health care, disease prevention, and treatment, or rehabilitation, there are problems that require an engineering approach. These may include developing systems to maintain and enhance life, designing replacement parts for people, or creating systems to allow the handicapped to use computers for work and communication. The growing complexity of medical technology has increased the demand for appropriately trained professionals to bridge the gap between clinical medicine and applied medical technology. This personnel must be capable of defining a medical problem in engineering science terms and of finding a solution that satisfies both engineering and medical requirements. Such trained personnel constitute the core of biomedical engineers. The biomedical engineer has expertise in engineering science, biological science, and me