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The National Institute of Health (NIH) held an innovative, first of its kind, bioengineering symposium in Bethesda, Maryland, USA on February 27 - 28, 1998 at the Natcher Conference Centre. The purpose of this meeting was to chart the future of bioengineering research into the 21st century.Harold E. Varmus, MD, Noble Laureate in Medicine and Director of NIH, welcomed the delegates during the opening session. According to Dr. Varmus, “Bioengineering advances the nation's health by increasing biological knowledge through the use of engineering principles and techniques and contributes methods that have facilitated the development of novel devices and drugs”.

A set of intervertebral pressure transducer (IVPT) and an intradiscal pressure transducer (IDPT) were developed to measure the pressures in the nucleus pulposus and around the annulus. Human lumbar spinal segments were loaded up to 2.0 kN and following parameters were recorded: applied compressive load as a function of time, intradiscal pressure as a function of time, intervertebral pressure as a function of time for anterior and lateral edges of the vertebra, strain as a function of time for anterior and lateral right and left sites of the vertebra, stress-relaxation of the complete segment as a function of time. All show very similar response to loading and stress-relaxation. However, annulus pressure did not respond to stress-relaxation. This was due to functional aspect of annulus.

Biomedical Engineering in the Millennium is building the future of biology and medicine. New products, from biotechnology and novel devices for diagnosis and treatment, are marketed through interactions between universities, medical centers, small start-up companies, and large, more established firms. The role of biomedical engineering in the 21st century has already been highlighted by Ranu as far as research, education and space age technologies are concerned. Therefore, educating the modern biomedical engineering students in design processes is extremely important. This paper highlights how biomedical engineering design is taught for the first time to King Saud University students in Saudi Arabia. The conclusion drawn from this is that for the first time an innovative design course has been developed to teach the biomedical engineering students at King Saud University to meet the needs of tomorrow’s biomedical engineers.Copyright © 2011 by ASME

A finite element model of a complete vertebra was formulated from a previously developed bilaterally symmetric model. This model was verified by comparing its results to those of the previous model and by ensuring that the output was bilaterally symmetric. The applied nodal loads were checked against experimentally measured pressures on the vertebral endplate. Simulations of complete and partial laminectomies on one side of a vertebra were performed. High tensile stresses occurred in the pedicle and in the region of the pars interarticularis as a result of surgery, particularly when the superior half of the lamina was removed.

A methodology is described for measuring the centre of pressure for successive steps during stance phase. Three persons were assessed, one normal, one below knee amputee and one having suffered from poliomyelitis. The clinical significance of this parameter of gait as measured by the miniature shoe-borne load cells is highlighted.

Man has recognized carbon as an implant material well tolerated by the body for many years. Indeed, carbon in an impure form (Indian ink) was first used in the making of tatoos. Most recently carbon has been used in a filamentous form of high strength. These carbon fibers are produced in long tows of 40,000 fibers, each with a cross sectional area of about 7μ (Figure 1), by heating acrylic fibers to high temperature. This causes the noncarbon components to be removed while maintaining the molecular structure (scaffold) of the acrylic. Fibers can be chopped into short lengths and used to reinforce polyethylenes (8, 11, 12). These reinforced plastics have-twice the strength and ten times the stiffness of their non-reinforced counterparts, but suffer only one tenth as much creep when subjected to a load (11). Long tows of carbon fibers are used in tendon and ligament replacement (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10). This application warrants further investigation because of the apparent ability of the carbon fibers to induce the formation of ligaments and tendons (3, 4, 5, 6, 7).

Fracture of the fibrous networks of normal and irradiated rat dermis have been studied using the SEM. The implications of these observations are discussed with regard to the mechanical behaviour of the tissue in the living animal. It is shown that after radiation the normal fibrous structure of collagen is replaced by a solid mat which is ill adapted to support stress, so that rupture at low stress levels is inevitable.

In vitro thermal properties of human cortical bone have been measured using a specially developed technique. The technique enables accurate measurement of the coefficient of thermal expansion and contraction and the average values have been measured to be 27.5 ± 3.9 × 10−6 mm/°C for expansion and 27.2 ± 5.2 × 10−6 mm/°C for contraction.

An engineering approach to functional assessment has been utilized to assist the moderate-to-severely physically handicapped. These computer-aided assessments are directed at work, keyboard operation and driving. In order to improve the quality of life for this population, independent living systems, recreational and mobility aids, and automated retrieval systems for information on assistive devices have been developed. This paper discusses their implementation and applications.

Pressures in the nucleus pulposus and under the annulus fibrosus have been measured, using the specially developed miniature pressure transducers, when the vertebral segment was subjected to physiological loading. Strain data and stress-relaxation were also measured. Results show that pressures are linear with loading. Pressure variations within the nucleus are due to disc degeneration.

Skin is a viscoelastic material, whose properties modify with age, some diseases and certain therapeutic treatments.