Biomedical Engineering Principles

Citation

Ritter, A. B., Hazelwood, V., Valdevit, A., & Ascione, A. N. (2011). Biomedical Engineering Principles (2nd ed.). CRC Press.

Chapter Summary

The second edition lists eighteen chapters in four sections (about 520–540 pages, depending on the catalogue). The publisher's description calls it an introductory, multidisciplinary text, assuming no more than a passing acquaintance with molecular biology, physiology, biochemistry and signal processing, and says the organisation lends itself to a course tailored to the student's background and interests. The public contents give chapter titles without numbers or part boundaries, so the chapters are grouped below by topic, following the order of the titles and the four areas the publisher's description names: modelling and physiology, signal processing, biomechanics and capstone design.

Modelling and physiology

The opening titles are Introduction: Modeling of Physiological Processes; Cell Physiology and Transport; Principles and Biomedical Applications of Hemodynamics; A Systems Approach to Physiology; and The Cardiovascular System. According to the publisher, the first part of the book covers systems analysis, biological data, and modelling and simulation in experimental design, and applies diffusion and facilitated and active transport. The titles move from modelling method to cell-level transport to the circulation.

Biomedical signal processing

Four chapters follow: Biomedical Signal Processing; Signal Acquisition and Processing; Techniques for Physiological Signal Processing; and Examples of Physiological Signal Processing. The publisher says the signal-processing part reviews frequency, periodic functions and Fourier series, along with signal acquisition and processing techniques. The last title indicates a chapter of worked examples drawn from physiological signals.

Biomechanics and biomaterials

Principles of Biomechanics, Practical Applications of Biomechanics and Biomaterials come next. The publisher describes the biomechanics part as concerned with the mechanical and structural properties of bone, musculoskeletal and connective tissue, with respect to joint range, load-bearing capacity and electrical stimulation. Which part the Biomaterials chapter belongs to is not shown in the public contents.

Capstone design and the field's future

The remaining titles are Principles of Biomedical Capstone Design; Unmet Clinical Needs; Entrepreneurship: Reasons why Most Good Designs Never Get to Market; An Engineering Solution in Search of a Biomedical Problem to Solve; Tissue Engineering; and Future Trends in BME. The publisher says the design part discusses design perspectives for living and nonliving systems, the role of the FDA, and the project timeline from inception to proof of concept. The Library of Congress record carries a publisher summary that also mentions artificial hearts, ventricular assist devices, defibrillators, pacemakers, stents and minimally invasive and robotic surgery among the technologies discussed.

Key Concepts

Modelling and physiology

• Modelling of physiological processes: the introductory chapter's theme, extended by the systems approach to physiology.
• Transport: diffusion and facilitated and active transport, named by the publisher.
• Hemodynamics: the principles and biomedical applications of blood flow, with a separate chapter on the cardiovascular system.

Signal processing

• Frequency, periodic functions and Fourier series: the signal-processing foundations named in the publisher's description.
• Signal acquisition and processing: the technique chapters before the worked examples.

Biomechanics and design

• Mechanical and structural properties of tissue: bone, musculoskeletal and connective tissue.
• Capstone design: design perspectives for living and nonliving systems, FDA involvement and the path to proof of concept.
• Unmet clinical needs and entrepreneurship: chapter topics at the two ends of a design project, the need that starts it and the reasons good designs fail to reach the market.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Broad multidisciplinary coverage in one volume. The contents join physiology and transport, signal processing, biomechanics and biomaterials, and capstone design, so a single book can support a first course that touches several areas of the field.
• Modular organisation. The publisher states that the arrangement lends itself to a course tailored to the experience and interests of the student, which matters in a field whose students arrive with very different backgrounds.
• Design and entrepreneurship are included. Chapters on unmet clinical needs, why good designs never reach the market and the FDA's role connect the book to practice.
• Evidence from reviews of the previous edition. Reviews quoted by the publisher for the first edition describe it as giving both an overview and in-depth treatment of selected topics supported by mathematical models, equations and quantitative data (Biomedical Engineering Online, 2005); Richard C. Fries (IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, December 2006) found numerous examples, figures, further reading and chapter-end problems; and G. Ya. Wiederschain (Moscow State University) found it well illustrated and useful to biochemists, biophysicists and specialists in cell biology and medicine. These reviews concern the earlier edition and may not describe every detail of this one.

Limitations

• Level is uneven in the descriptions. The publisher describes the book as introductory with only passing familiarity assumed, yet Wiederschain called the first edition reasonably high in scientific level, employing mathematics, physics, chemistry and thermodynamics. Readers should expect the quantitative demands to be real.
• Introductory depth in each area. Signal processing receives four chapters and biomechanics two, so the book is a starting point; each area has dedicated books for further study.
• Little detail in the public contents. The contents are chapter titles only, with no section headings, and the reviews are of the previous edition. Check a sample chapter if a specific topic matters.

Where It Fits in the Course

Ritter and colleagues take the engineering-analysis route into the field: modelling and physiology first, then signals, mechanics, materials and design. Saltzman's Biomedical Engineering: Bridging Medicine and Technology starts from molecular, cellular and physiological biology and then surveys the subfields, so it is the better fit for students who need the biology taught. Saterbak, San and McIntire's Bioengineering Fundamentals builds a first course on conservation laws, and Enderle and colleagues' Introduction to Biomedical Engineering is a comprehensive survey textbook.

For later study, Hobbie and Roth's Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology applies physics across physiology and medical physics, and Wittrup and colleagues' Quantitative Fundamentals of Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering develops quantitative models of binding, kinetics, gene expression and cell behaviour. The signal-processing and design sections of Ritter can be extended with the dedicated books on those topics.

How to Use This Book

The book suits undergraduates in a first biomedical engineering course, particularly where the course covers modelling, signals, mechanics and design together, and, as Fries's review of the earlier edition noted, practising engineers without a biomedical background. Calculus and introductory physics and chemistry are the sensible background; the publisher says physiology and signal processing need not be known in advance.

Because the publisher describes the book as modular, choose parts to match the course: the modelling and physiology chapters as the base for any use, the signal-processing chapters for a signals emphasis, the biomechanics chapters for mechanics, and the design chapters for a capstone or design course. Begin with the opening chapter on modelling physiological processes, which introduces the approach the publisher describes. Use the problems and discussion questions written for the book, and for the design chapters apply them to a real project, starting from an unmet clinical need.