ADVANCES IN DISTRIBUTED SENSOR TECHNOLOGY [BOOK REVIEWS]

Tissue Engineering, section 11, builds on the ten pages devoted to Tissue Engineering in the previous section. Sixteen chapters (245 pages) cover material and rate processes, cell biology and function, and discussions of engineering of specific tissues (marrow, liver, etc.) Again, this section alone could be the basis for a course. Prostheses and Artificial Organs are covered in section 12. Following an excellent overview, some thirteen chapters cover the major topics in this area. These include artificial hearts, valves, and kidneys, as well as replacement and assistive devices, such as artificial blood and skin, and liver support systems. These chapters easily could form the basis for a descriptive, rather than quantitative, coverage of this areas. Rehabilitation Engineering is section 13. The eight chapters are of value to students wanting to do a design project at a local VA hospital, or for those wanting to work on projects at a local (county) school for wheelchair bound students, etc. It would be nice to offer a course in Rehabilitation Engineering, and these chapters (and a few others in the text as referenced in the introduction) could form the core for the text material. We have the students, if only we had the time. Human Performance Engineering, section 14, has thirteen chapters that extend the previous discussion into areas involving Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Human Factors, and Human-Task interfaces. It is must reading for students interested in pursuing careers in this field. Section 15, Physiologic Modeling, Simulation, and Control outline in nine chapters the “raison d’etre” of some of my colleagues, who enjoy simulation of their “desktop patients” … An interesting discussion of implying structure from function (and then vice versa) is followed by several important chapters on modeling and identification, with Cardiovascular, Respiratory and Neural Models chapters as examples. Discussions of closed loop drug delivery systems, and eye and movement control conclude this section. It would have been interesting to augment this section with a discussion of the two Anesthesia Human Patient Simulator Systems. In section 16, Clinical Engineering, eleven chapters cover the field of Clinical Engineering. Many students enter the marketplace without an introduction to the realities of engineering practice in the health care environment, and these chapters do an excellent job of presenting the basic structure and function of this field. This section should be required reading for all students planning to be employed upon graduation from an undergraduate Biomedical Engineering curriculum. In Medical Informatics, section 17, seven chapters provide a brief overview/tutorial on Hospital Information Systems, Electronic Patient Records and data distribution and access, decision making, and system design. From my perspective (Biomedical Engineering and Anesthesiology departments), this field is now extremely important, especially as health care systems compete for patients. These few chapters provide a starting point for further reading and study in this field. Section 18 examines Artificial Intelligence. Extending some of the discussion of the previous section, these eight chapters cover, after a brief historical discussion, several fields of AI. These fields include Artificial Neural Networks, Clinical Decision Systems, Expert Systems, and Knowledge Based Systems. The section concludes with two brief (also too brief) sections on Medical Terminology and Diagnosis, and Natural Language Processing. There are very good referencing in some sections. The book’s final section focuses on Regulations and Organizations. The final three chapters in this tome cover the role of professional societies in Biomedical Engineering, Health Technology Assessment, and Regulation of Biomaterials and Medical Devices. There is valuable material for design courses, useful for one or more seminars on the undergraduate level. And finally, there are five sections that cover historical perspectives. These include Cardiac pacing, Action Potentials, ECG, EMG, and EEG. These sections can easily be used to present background material prior to a discussion of current techniques in the above areas. This text is needed in your Science Library. Another copy is needed in your departmental office for use by the Chairman. Anyone planning or considering a new course should buy and use this text for course planning purposes. Consultants, Clinical Engineers, and other related professionals outside of academia should also have a copy of this text for both referencing and education. Were it not for the physical size and price, I would recommend this text for every undergraduatelgraduate BME/CE engineering student. Would it be possible to produce this as a CD-Rom and produce biannual updates?