19Golden accomplishments in biomedical engineering

May/Junel2002IEEEENGINEERINGINMEDICINEANDBIOLOGY1750YearsoftheIEEEEngineeringinMedicineandBiologySocietyandtheEmergenceofaNewDisciplineOneofthefastestgrowingfieldsoftech-nology—afieldofastoundingrecentachievementsandevenmoreambitioushopes—isbiomedicalengineering.Labo-ratoryinstrumentation,medicalimaging,cardiacpacemakers,artificiallimbs,andcomputeranalysisofthehumangenomearesomeofitsfamiliarproducts.Definedastheuseoftheprinciplesandtechniquesofengineeringtosolveproblemsinbiol-ogyandmedicine,biomedicalengineer-ingtodayholdsaprominentplaceasameansofimprovingmedicaldiagnosisandtreatment,asabusiness,andasanac-ademicdiscipline.Yet50yearsagoitbarelyexisted.Itwasin1952thatagroupofelectron-icsengineers,membersoftheInstituteofRadioEngineers(IRE),establishedanor-ganizationwithintheIREtoconsider“problemsinbiologyandmedicinewhichmightbeaidedinsolutionbyuseofelec-tronicengineeringprinciplesandde-vices.”ThisProfessionalGrouponMedicalElectronics,asitwascalled,grewsteadilyandexpandeditsareaofin-terest.In1963theIREandtheAmericanInstituteofElectricalEngineers(AIEE)mergedtoformtheInstituteofElectricalandElectronicsEngineers(IEEE),andtheIREProfessionalGrouponMedicalElec-tronicsmergedwiththeAIEECommitteeonElectricalTechniquesinMedicineandBiology.Overtheyearssince,theIEEEEngineeringinMedicineandBiologySo-ciety(EMBS),whilegrowingintothelargestinternationalmember-basedsoci-etyofbiomedicalengineers,hasmade,throughitsmeetings,publications,andotheractivities,invaluablecontributionsintheadvancementofthefield.The50thanniversaryoftheSocietyisanappropriatetimetolookbackattheor-iginsandgrowthofboththefieldofbio-medicalengineeringandtheEMBS.TheSociety,undertheleadershipofPastPresidentsBanuOnaralandAndrewSzetoandcurrentPresidentHenriettaGaliana,hasfundedanddirectedahis-toryproject,theprincipalproductsofwhichareanarrativehistoryandasetoforal-historyinterviews.Thestorytobetoldisalargeandexcit-ingone,andnotallofitcanbetoldhere.ThepresentaccountgivesmostattentiontotheaspectsofbiomedicalengineeringtowhichIEEEmembers(and,earlier,FrederikNebeker,IEEEHistoryCenter,Piscataway,NJ0739-5175/02/$17.00©2002IEEEAIEEmembersandIREmembers)contributed,whichistosaythatthisaccountemphasizestheelectrical,electronic,andcom-putingaspectsofbiomedicalengineering.Mechanicalengineer-ingandchemicalengineeringhave,ofcourse,madeenormouscontributionstobiomedicalengineering.Theseareas,thoughonlyoccasionallymentionedinthenarrative,arewellrepre-sentedintheoral-historyinterviews,excerptsofwhichappearinthisissueinaseparatearticle.Itmustalsobesaidthatthenumberofprofessionalsocietiesthathavearisentofosterbiomedicalengineeringisverylarge.Someofthemhavebroadscope,suchastheEuropeanSocietyforEngineeringandMedicine,andsomeofthemnarrowscope,suchastheNorthAmericanSocietyofPacingandElectrophysiology.Thegeographicscopeofprofessionalsocietiesmayberegional,national,continental,orglobal.Thisaccount,ofcourse,focusesontheIEEEEngineeringinMedicineandBiologySocietyanditspredecessororganizationsintheAIEEandtheIRE,anditmen-tionsothersocietiesonlyoccasionally.Andevenwithintheboundsthusestablished,manychoiceshadtobemade.Forexam-ple,anextremelylargetopicwhosehistoryisonlysketchilypre-sentedhereisbiomedicalengineeringeducation.Theresearchandwritingofthisnarrativeaccount,aswellastheconductingandeditingoftheoralhistories,werecarriedoutmainlybyFrederikNebekerandotherstaffoftheIEEEHistoryCenteratRutgersUniversity.DavidGeselowitz,chairoftheEMBShistorycommittee,gavethegreatestassistance,andotherEMBSmemberscontributed,especiallyHermanSchwan,An-drewSzeto,andMaxValentinuzzi.OtherswhodeservemanythanksaretheEMBSstaff,headedbyExecutiveDirectorLauraJ.Wolf,andthosewhocontributedoral-historyinterviews.Also,thesectionthatlooksatthefuturecontainscontributionsbyJohnW.Clark,L.A.Geddes,aswellasEliseFearandFaustinaHwangwithcontributionsfromEMBSstudentmembers.Theauthorofthishistoryiswellawareofthefactthat,despitetheassistanceofallthesepeople,manyshortcomingsremain.InanattemptatexculpationheappealstoMurphy’sLaw,anotherofthecontributionsofbiomedicalengineeringtomodernsoci-ety.(In1949theU.S.AirForceperformedtestsofrapiddeceler-ationonpilots.Volunteerswerestrappedtoarocket-propelledsled,andtheirphysiologicalconditionsweremonitoredthroughelectrodescontainedinaharnessdesignedbyCaptainEdwardA.Murphy.Afterdiscoveringonedaythattheelectrodeshadbeenwiredincorrectly,Murphycommented“Iftherearetwoormorewaysofdoingsomething,andoneofthemcanleadtocatastro-phe,thensomeonewilldoit.”)TheRootsofBiomedicalEngineeringHistoryoftheTechnologiesInthe1780sLuigiGalvani,studyingwhatwascalled“animalelectricity,”initiatedalineofresearchknownaselec-trophysiology.By1900ithadestablishedtheelectricalnatureofthenerveimpulseanditsvelocityandrevealedmuchaboutelec-trolyticconductioninanimaltissues.Conceptsofelectricalengi-neering,suchasresistivity,capacitance,andpolarization,wereapplicable.Indeed,themathematicalmodelthatWilliamThomson(laterLordKelvin)proposedin1855fortheAtlantictelegraphcablewasmodified,shortlyaftertheturnofthecen-tury,todescribethemechanismofc