Y R A R B I L S L L I K S Y R U T N E C T S 1 2 COOL SCIENCE CAREERS BIOENGINEER CHAPTER ONE BIOLOGY PLUS ENGINEERING Do you know anyone who uses a hearing aid Does someone in your class wear contact lenses Do you have Bioengineers create helpful technology such as hearing aids
a family member who has had a knee replaced If so you know someone who has benefitted from the work of bioengineers Bioengineers work to improve people’s lives by solving many complex problems They may work on medical agricul tural food energy or environmental issues This book focuses on the bioengineer’s role in biomedicine These scientists apply engineering principles to solve problems in biology and medicine They create devices to help people with handi caps They build new systems and instruments to diagnose and treat illnesses Devices implanted in patients bodies are also the work of bioengineers Before we learn more about bioengineers let’s talk about what engineers do Engineers use science and mathematics to create things people need If there is no way to travel between two islands engineers design a bridge If a factory needs to produce smaller cars with fewer parts engineers will figure out the best way to do it If the navy needs an aircraft carrier that can change direction more quickly it’s time to call in the engineers There are many different fields of engineering Aerospace engineers study principles of flight gravity and aerodynamics They use what they learn to design new airplanes and spacecraft Petroleum engineers study rock formations and geology They figure out the best ways to draw oil and gas from deposits deep in the earth
Y R A R B I L S L L I K S Y R U T N E C T S 1 2 COOL SCIENCE CAREERS BIOENGINEER Environmental engineers study the climate wildlife and ecology They predict problems that might occur as cities grow larger and they develop solutions to those problems Bioengineers study biology and medicine in addition to engineering They look at how human tissue repairs itself after injury They investigate how germs invade the body They study human movement and measure the stress on joints during different activities Bioengineers use computers and other equipment to solve problems
LEARNING LEARNING LEARNING INNOVATION SKILLS INNOVATION SKILLS INNOVATION SKILLS In 1816 Rene Laennec was a doctor with a problem One of his patients showed signs of having a heart disease At the time doctors would listen to a patient’s heart by pressing an ear against the patient’s chest Laennec’s patient was a young woman and he was too embarrassed to place his head against her How could he solve this problem Laennec remembered something he had learned Sound seemed to amplify as it traveled through a tube He rolled up a sheet of paper pressed one end against the woman’s chest and put his ear to the other end It worked The heart sounds came through This discovery led him to invent the stethoscope This device relies on the behavior of sound waves to help medical professionals listen to heart and lung sounds No modern-day doctor or nurse would be without one Can you think of some other medical devices that early bioengi neers might have developed
