Medical imaging

Medical/biomedical imaging is a major segment of medical devices. This area deals with enabling clinicians to directly or indirectly "view" things not visible in plain sight (such as due to their size, and/or location). This can involve utilizing ultrasound, magnetism, UV, other radiology, and other means,

An MRI scan of a human head, an example of a biomedical engineering application of electrical engineering to diagnostic imaging. Click here to view an animated sequence of slices.

Imaging technologies are often essential to medical diagnosis, and are typically the most complex equipment found in a hospital including:

• Fluoroscope
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Nuclear medicine
• Positron emission tomography (PET) PET scans PET-CT scans
• Projection radiography such as X-rays and CT scans
• Tomography
• Ultrasound
• Optical microscopy
• Electron microscopy

Implants

An implant is a kind of medical device made to replace and act as a missing biological structure (as compared with a transplant, which indicates transplanted biomedical tissue). The surface of implants that contact the body might be made of a biomedical material such as titanium, silicone or apatite depending on what is the most functional. In some cases implants contain electronics e.g. artificial pacemaker and cochlear implants. Some implants are bio active, such as subcutaneous drug delivery devices in the form of implantable pills or drug-eluting stents.


Artificial limbs: The right arm is an example of a prosthesis, and the left arm is an example of myoelectric control.A prosthetic eye, an example of a biomedical engineering application of mechanical engineering and bio compatible materials to ophthalmology.