Bioengineering?

Hi, I’m David Restle, a freshman bioengineering student at the University of Pennsylvania. Welcome to my blog. Here are some of my thoughts on what it means to be an engineer, and how I got interested in bioengineering.

Engineers use their creativity and problem solving ability to design and build things. We get the satisfaction of creating something that serves a purpose. Bioengineers have the additional challenge designing things that interface with the complexity and unpredictability of living organisms.

As a volunteer ambulance crew member, I learned that treating patients is very challenging, but also potentially very rewarding, and I first contemplated a career involving health care.

I was also intrigued by the equipment on the ambulance. I saw how technology could save lives, but I also saw the ingenious ways that machines, particularly the pulse oximeter and the heart monitor/defibrillator, could non-invasively monitor crucial life processes.

I think the pulse oximeter is especially interesting. It consists of a finger clip; which, by detecting the tiny changes in finger diameter due to the pulse, measures a patient’s heart rate. In addition, two beams of light with wavelengths of 650nm and 805nm are shown through the finger. Hemoglobin that is saturated with oxygen absorbs these wavelengths of light differently than hemoglobin that is not saturated by oxygen. The pulse oximeter compares the absorption of light during systole and diastole, and determines the percent of hemoglobin that is saturated with blood. (1)

A pulse oximeter is now available that uses 7 wavelengths of light to monitor oxygen and carbon monoxide saturation in hemoglobin, as well as other physiological data. (2)

I believe that further technological advances will be made in the future in the field of non-invasive diagnosis of illness. Based on my experiences as an EMT, I think that bioengineers have the potential to make many lifesaving technological advances, and I'm excited to start studying bioengineering myself.

Bibliography:

1. Pulse Oximetry, Dr SJ Fearnley,
Department of Anaesthetics, Torbay Hospital, Torquay, UK. http://www.nda.ox.ac.uk/wfsa/html/u05/u05_003.htm

2. Miasmo Corporation Web Site: http://www.masimo.com/rad-57/