History


Biomedical engineering has existed for centuries.
  • 1895: Wilhelm Roentgen accidentally discovered that a cathode-ray tube could make a sheet of paper coated with barium platinocyanide glow, even when the tube and the paper were in separate rooms. Roentgen decided the tube must be emitting some kind of penetrating rays, which he called "X" rays. This set off a flurry of research into the tissue-penetrating and tissue-destroying properties of X-rays, a line of research that ultimately produced the modern array of medical imaging technologies and virtually eliminated the need for exploratory surgery.
Major milestones
  • 1791: Luigi Galvani invented the frog galvanoscope.
  • 1851: Hermann von Helmholtz invented the ophthalmoscope.
  • 1881: Samuel von Basch invented the blood pressure meter (also known as sphygmomanometer).
  • 1895: Conrad Roentgen (Germany) discovered the X-ray using gas discharged tubes.
  • 1896: Henry Becquerel (France) discovered X-rays were emitted from uranium ore.
  • 1901: Roentgen received the Nobel Prize for discovery of X-rays.
  • 1903: Willem Einthoven invented the electrocardiogram (ECG).
  • 1921: First formal training in biomedical engineering was started at Oswalt Institute for Physics in Medicine, Frankfurt, Germany.
  • 1927: Invention of the Drinker respirator.
  • 1929: Hans Berger invents the electroencephalogram (EEG).
  • 1930: X-rays were being used to visualize most organ systems using radio-opaque materials, refrigeration, permitted blood banks.
  • Mid 1930s – early 1940s: Antibiotics, sulfanilamide and pencillin reduced cross-infection in hospitals.
  • 1940: Cardiac catheterization.
  • 1943: The International Bio-Physical Society was formed.
  • 1948: The first conference of Engineering in Medicine & Biology was held in the United States.
  • 1950: Electron microscope.
  • 1950s – early 1960s: Nuclear medicine.
  • 1953: Cardiopulmonary bypass (heart–lung machine).
  • 1969: Case Western Reserve created a MD/PhD program
  • 1970: computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
  • 1975: Whitaker Foundation was founded.
  • 1980: Gamma camera, positron emission tomography (PET) and SPECT.
  • 1997: First Indigenous endovascular coronary stent (Kalam-Raju stent) was developed by the Care Foundation.
  • Biomedical engineering has provided advances in medical technology to improve human health. As per the statistics of the National Academy of Engineering, about 32000 biomedical engineers are currently working in various areas of health care technology.
Biomedical engineering achievements range from early devices, such as crutches, platform shoes, and wooden teeth to more modern equipment, including pacemakers, heart-lung machine, dialysis machines, diagnostic equipment, imaging technologies of every kind, and artificial organs, medical implants and advanced prosthetics.

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