It is the application of engineering principles and techniques to the medical field. It establishes a symbiotic relationship between engineering, medicine, biology, and physics. The main objective of the subject is to bring about an improvement in the overall quality of healthcare and enhance the quality of life of the suffering patients.

It requires a combination of design and problem solving skills of engineering. This course also imparts training to the students for overall design, maintenance and installation of medical instruments in a hospital or a medical R&D centre.

The subjects mainly dealt in this field are with the concepts of biology, physics and chemistry to develop products and devices used for diagnosis and treatment. This branch integrates Physical, Chemical, mathematical and computational sciences and engineering principles to study biology, medicine behavior and health. Biomedical engineering is an interdisciplinary field, influenced by various fields like bioinformatics, medical imaging, image processing, physiological signal processing, biomechanics, biomaterials and bioengineering, systems analysis, 3-D modeling, bio-instrumentation, genetic engineering, orthopedic surgery cellular and tissue engineering.

Unlike other engineering fields the advancement in Biomedical Engineering is more challenging. A Biomedical Engineer is expected to be a versatile chemical-electro-mechanical-computer engineer.

Biomedical engineers can derive creative satisfaction by designing customized devices like artificial organs such as hearing aids, cardiac pacemakers, artificial kidneys and hearts, blood oxygenators, synthetic blood vessels, joints, arms, and legs). Automated patient monitoring systems, blood chemistry sensors, ultrasound, artificial intelligence for clinical decisions and advanced therapeutic and surgical devices (laser system for eye surgery, automated delivery of insulin, etc.).

In research institutions, biomedical engineers supervise laboratories and equipment, and participate in or direct research activities in collaboration with other researchers with such backgrounds as medicine, physiology, and nursing.

A Biomedical engineer would find jobs with companies that manufacture equipment used in hospitals and diagnostic centers or centers for research and development, quality control and testing as also installation, maintenance or sales and marketing departments.

A biomedical engineer can pursue further studies in bio-informatics, prosthetic science, postgraduate program and R & D in any of the above mentioned fields.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratory, Hindustan Unilever, Siemens, LG, Reliance etc are a few companies among others that hire these professionals.

Remuneration for biomedical engineering professionals is quite decent. In medical equipment manufacturing companies, one can get anything between Rs.20, 000 and Rs. 30,000 per month. In research and teaching institutions salaries vary between Rs.18, 000-25,000 per month. Private hospitals and clinics pay between Rs.15, 000 and Rs.25, 000 per month. In case of government agencies, the remuneration per month is in the range of Rs.16, 000 to Rs.22, 000 per month. Biomedical Engineering along with Biotechnology and Bioinformatics has emerged as one of the hottest careers.