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The knee is the largest synovial joint in the body. It is composed of three bones and three joints although two of the three joints share a common cavity. The bones of the knee consist of the femur (thigh bone), the tibia (shin bone), the patella (kneecap), and, to a lesser degree, the fibula. The knee joint is made up of the tibiofemoral joint, which itself is comprised of a medial compartment and a lateral compartment. The true knee joint also includes the patellofemoral joint. Another important component of the knee joint complex, although not part of the true knee joint, is the superior tibiofibular joint. Figure 12.1 shows the details of the knee joint and its associated tendons and ligaments. The tibial plateau and cartilage are also visible.

Before we talk about the artificial pancreas, we have to understand its structure and function. The pancreas, which is shown in Fig. 20.1, is located below the stomach and above the duodenum. It releases endocrine hormones (insulin, amylin, and glucagon) into the portal vein, where it flows directly to the liver.

The human thoracic cavity houses a pair of lungs, the left lung and the right lung. The left lung is slightly smaller (since the heart is placed a bit to the left in the body) and has two lobes, and the right lung is bigger, with three lobes. They are spongy and elastic organs that are broad at the bottom and taper at the top. They consist of air sacs, the alveoli. Many alveoli group together and open into a common space. From this space arise the alveolar ducts, which join together to form bronchioles. The bronchioles connect them to the respiratory tract. The lungs also have blood vessels, the branches of the pulmonary artery and veins (Fig. 15.1).

Traditionally, engineers are trained to deliver products, projects, or services to fit some specified requirements. They work to a required performance and quality, within a given time and budget. This is despite the fact that these decisions may require not only an understanding of the engineering possibilities, but also knowledge of and experience with potential environmental and social consequences.

Our cardiovascular system transports important substances, such as oxygen and nutrients, between tissues and organs. It also helps transport and eliminates waste products. Our heart, blood vessels, and blood form a sophisticated network that transports materials around our body. These materials are carried by the blood through the blood vessels and are kept in motion by the pumping action of the heart. The blood vessels of the cardiovascular system are divided into two main pathways. The blood vessels in the pulmonary circuit carry blood from the heart to the lungs and back to the heart. The systemic circuit consists of the pathways between the heart and all other areas of the body.

Human upper- and lower-body joints are vulnerable to disease processes, such as various types of arthritis, or dislocation or damage due to trauma in road accidents or household falls. Quite often, conservative treatment repairs such damaged body parts and the patient goes back to his or her normal life. But it is not uncommon to have restricted painful movement, leading to disability and loss of function to a great extent.

The female body has some special organs, such as breasts, that constitute their femininity, beauty, and personality. The organs we will discuss in this chapter will be limited to the female breast and vagina.

In recent years, the demand for medical devices has grown faster than expected. The world medical device market totaled $209 billion in 2006 and was projected to grow with an average annual rate of 6–9 % through 2010 and beyond. The medical device industry is highly dynamic, where dramatic innovations and developments are taking place every day. Driven by both the increasing demand in overseas markets and companies’ ambition to pursue profits globally, the globalization of the medical device industry has intensified. Accordingly, the need to understand the global market has grown. Medical device manufacturers face mounting pressure at all stages to reduce costs and increase margins, while still delivering product advancements, superior quality, and excellent customer service. As companies modernize their business practices, they are driven by the need to remain competitive and retain critical survival capabilities, such as agility and flexibility in a fast-changing marketplace. The opportunities are tremendous for players in the contract manufacturing market. The primary drivers for medical device outsourcing include not only the growth pattern of the overall medical device market, but also the extent to which device manufacturers choose to outsource their manufacturing and assembly operations. The present frugal economic conditions have additionally reinforced the need to upgrade medical device manufacturing in a cost-effective, yet competitive way.

When we want to design, that is, prepare a drawing and fabricate something to replace a desired body part or malfunctioning organ(s) due to disease processes, trauma, or surgical removal, it is necessary to understand the real nature and biomechanical characteristics of those anatomical parts, e.g., tissues and organs. Anthropometry is the science and practice of measuring the size and shape of the human body and its parts. To measure the properties of biological materials and tissues are also anthropometry’s tasks. Biomechanics, in turn, studies the structure and function of biological systems using the methods of mechanics. The composition and behavior of bones, cartilages, and ligaments have been studied for many years. However, although we know much about these tissues, newer and better measurement techniques continuously improve the available data. It should be remembered that there are biological variations and environmental factors that significantly affect the mechanical properties of biological tissues.

The human eye is a marvelous organ that is complex in function. Due to diseases, trauma, and the natural aging process, vision is impaired and reduced to a great extent. Medical scientists, working in tandem with material scientists, have developed many operative techniques and devices for correcting vision and giving relief to patients. To understand these developments, we need to start with the anatomy of the eye.

During or after design, the manufacturing aspect must be considered to facilitate manufacturing the product with the available resources. Then the product must be tested for its sterilizability, effectiveness in vitro and in vivo, strength, life expectancy or durability, and, finally, packaging for shipment.

Edentulousness due to diseases, trauma, or developmental anomalies is a worldwide problem. Implants have been used to support dental prostheses for many decades, but they are not always received with enthusiastic response from the patients. This situation has changed dramatically with the development of endosseous osseointegrated dental implants. They are the nearest equivalent replacement to the natural tooth and are therefore a useful addition in the management of patients who have missing teeth. There are a number of dental implant systems that offer predictable long-term results backed by good scientific research and clinical trials. First of all, it may be helpful to understand some of the commonly used terms in implantology, given in Table 5.1.

The elbow joint [1] is a special hinge joint in the middle of the arm. The three bones that form the elbow joint are the humerus of the upper arm and the radius and ulna of the forearm [1]. The bony prominence at the very tip of the elbow is the olecranon process of the ulna, and the inner aspect of the elbow is called the antecubital fossa.

The skin is the body’s largest organ, covering the entire outside of the body, weighing approximately 3 kg, and covering about 5–6 m2 of the body’s surface. In addition to serving as a protective shield against heat and cold, light, injury, pollution, and infection, the skin also

An artificial heart is a mechanical device that is implanted into the body to replace the biological heart. The term “artificial heart” has often inaccurately been used to describe ventricular assist devices (VADs), which are pumps that assist the heart but do not replace it. To refresh the reader’s memory, a clean view of the normal heart is shown in Fig. 16.1.

In these days of rapid industrialization and globalization, skeletal fractures due to traffic and railroad accidents, indoor accidents due to highly polished modern floor surfaces, and competitive sports-related injuries are increasing at a rapid rate. There are two principal methodologies for repairing fractured skeletal tissues. One is external fixation, and the other is internal fixation.

As of this publication, the development of biomaterials as a science is nearly 50 years old. The study of this subject is known as biomaterials science and involves engineering as well as development of products. It has shown a steady and strong growth over the years, with business groups investing large amounts of money into the development of new products. Biomaterials science is highly interdisciplinary in nature, involving medical sciences, biosciences, chemistry, tissue engineering, and materials science principles (Fig. 4.1).

The objective of this chapter is to briefly review the human system to refresh the reader’s knowledge about 11 systems of the wonderful human machine from an engineer’s point of view. We will discuss the very basic anatomy of the system.