Introduction to Biomedical Engineering

Citation

Enderle, J., & Dunn, S. Introduction to Biomedical Engineering (4th ed.). Academic Press.

Chapter Summary

The fourth edition is a survey text in 17 chapters, with online bonus chapters on rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology, genomics and bioinformatics, and computational cell biology and complexity. The publisher describes the aim as covering the range of topics a biomedical engineer needs: basic mathematical modeling, anatomy and physiology, electrical engineering, signal processing and instrumentation, biomechanics, biomaterials, tissue engineering, and medical and engineering ethics. The treatment is pitched at senior undergraduates and graduate students, and the edition adds worked examples and end-of-chapter exercises compared with earlier ones.

Chapters 1–2: Biomedical Engineering: A Historical Perspective; Moral and Ethical Issues

The book opens with a historical look at the field, in line with the publisher's note that each major biomedical domain is presented with its historical development. The second chapter addresses the moral and ethical issues that biomedical engineers face, placing professional ethics at the start rather than at the end.

Chapters 3–6: Anatomy and Physiology; Biomechanics; Biomaterials; Tissue Engineering

These chapters supply the biological and materials foundation: the structure and function of the body, the mechanics of biological tissues and systems, the materials used in and with the body, and the engineering of tissue. The publisher singles out biomaterials and tissue engineering as areas with revised and updated content on current research.

Chapters 7–8: Compartmental Modeling; Biochemical Reactions and Enzyme Kinetics

Two modeling chapters follow. Compartmental modeling introduces the representation of physiological systems as connected compartments, and the chapter on biochemical reactions and enzyme kinetics treats reaction rates in biological settings. Together they bring in the mathematical modeling the publisher lists as a core topic.

Chapters 9–11: Bioinstrumentation; Biomedical Sensors; Biosignal Processing

This group covers measurement: the instrumentation that acquires physiological signals, the sensors that convert them into electrical form, and the processing of the resulting biosignals. The publisher notes updates on biosensors and biosignal processing in this edition.

Chapters 12–14: Bioelectric Phenomena; Physiological Modeling; Biomedical Transport Processes

The middle of the book returns to physiology with an engineering lens: the electrical behavior of living tissue, the building of quantitative models of physiological systems, and the transport of mass and energy in biological settings. The publisher lists physiological modeling among the updated topics.

Chapters 15–17: Radiation Imaging; Medical Imaging; Biomedical Optics and Lasers

The final chapters cover imaging and light: imaging that uses radiation, other medical imaging modalities, and optical and laser methods in biomedicine.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–6: History, Ethics and the Biological and Materials Base

• Moral and ethical issues: the ethical questions facing biomedical engineers, treated as a topic in its own chapter.
• Biomechanics: the mechanics of biological tissues and systems.
• Biomaterials and tissue engineering: materials for use in the body and the engineering of tissue.

Chapters 7–11: Modeling, Instrumentation and Signals

• Compartmental modeling: representing a physiological system as interacting compartments.
• Enzyme kinetics: the rates of biochemical reactions and their modeling.
• Biosignal processing: the treatment of signals acquired from physiological sources.

Chapters 12–17: Bioelectricity, Transport and Imaging

• Bioelectric phenomena: electrical activity in living tissue.
• Biomedical transport processes: transport in biological systems.
• Medical imaging: radiation-based and other imaging methods, together with optics and lasers.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• The scope is broad and matches the publisher's description of an encyclopedic survey in a single volume, covering modeling, physiology, electrical engineering, mechanics, materials, tissue engineering and ethics in one text.
• The 17-chapter list is organized as a sequence from foundations (history, ethics, anatomy and physiology) through materials and modeling to instrumentation, signals, transport and imaging, which makes it easy to pick out the chapters a given course needs.
• The publisher states that the edition has more worked examples and end-of-chapter exercises than earlier ones, and that it supplies a historical look at each major domain.
• Online bonus chapters extend the printed book to rehabilitation engineering, genomics and bioinformatics, and computational cell biology.

Limitations

• A survey of this breadth gives each subfield a single chapter, so readers who need depth in one area, such as instrumentation or biomechanics, will want a specialist text.
• The publisher states the audience as senior undergraduates and graduate students, so the book presumes a base in mathematics and engineering rather than starting from the first principles of each subfield.

Where It Fits in the Course

Within the introductory biomedical engineering group, this is the broadest survey. Saterbak, San and McIntire's Bioengineering Fundamentals introduces the field through conservation laws applied to living systems, which suits a first course built on problem solving. Saltzman's Biomedical Engineering: Bridging Medicine and Technology builds outward from biology. Ritter and colleagues' Biomedical Engineering Principles emphasizes quantitative analysis and design. Hobbie and Roth's Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology and Wittrup and colleagues' Quantitative Fundamentals of Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering are more demanding treatments of the physics and the molecular-cellular modeling. Enderle and Dunn work best as the reference that shows how all these areas fit together and where to go next.

How to Use This Book

The book suits students in a biomedical engineering program, or in a combined course with another engineering, biology or life-science field, who want one volume covering the whole discipline. A background in calculus and basic physics, plus introductory biology, makes the modeling and instrumentation chapters easier.

A practical plan is to read Chapters 1–3 first for the history, ethics and physiology that frame the rest, then choose a track. A modeling track runs through Chapters 7, 8, 13 and 14. A measurement track runs through Chapters 9–12. A materials and mechanics track takes Chapters 4–6, and an imaging track takes Chapters 15–17. Use the worked examples and end-of-chapter exercises to test each chapter, and treat the online bonus chapters as optional extensions for rehabilitation, genomics or computational cell biology. When a topic needs more depth, move from the survey chapter to a specialist book in the same course.