What Biomedical Technology is, and How it Works
Biomedical Technology is the combination of three words which converge to form Biomedical Technology. These words are Bio(logy), Medical and Technology!
Medical fraternity depends on research of biology, a highly intricate subject. With the advent of the communications revolution, and the growing use of computers, technology has come to the aid of medicine.
Biology, as we all know, is the study of various intricate parts of each body, which is a living organism (our human body too is classified as one). This also includes plants, mammals, or anything that grows, on land, sea or air. Relevant examples range from the tiniest creature that this author can think of, the mosquito, to small and large birds, mammals, reptiles, and small plants like grass to the tallest Banyan tree. All are living organisms, and therefore are the subject of biology.
Biology in ancient days was one of trial and error. In ancient civilizations, there were many texts which were used to heal wounds and other diseases. Some of them are lost to mankind. Practically every civilization had its own set of medicines that were obtained naturally. In the last century came the advent of what is called synthetic medicine, that is the pills and capsules that are manufactured in large scale by various pharmacy companies.
Biology is the study of how each cell in the organism works. This includes a wide range of activity. What made it what it is, what is its relation to the cell next to it, what is contained in each cell, what does it do, how does it do it, from where does it get the ‘instructions to act in a particular manner’, how does it communicate with others, how does it send certain chemicals or juices to other cells, or molecules, what makes it produce those juices at particular times only, and who or what really controls it and the other millions, sorry, billions of similar cells. How long does a cell last, why does it have to fade away (die), and what makes it do so, how is the new cell brought into its place and so on.
Studying these characteristics helps the researcher to identify various cells which contribute to our well being or to our ailments. In analyzing the characteristics of each cell, which takes years and years, it obviously requires the researchers to maintain a huge volume of databases. The databases contain bioinformation taken at different times and allows researchers to check back and forth where the evolutionary cycle of that cell started, how it worked, how it broke down, and how it was replaced. The questions are endless.
To collate all this information, and to find relationships which could withstand the scrutiny of scientists required reams of paper meticulously written down. With the advent of computers this task became much easier. With the adding and growing of computing power, the databases are now safe, and the intricate relationships can be examined a little more scientifically by using math models and algorithms. The results of these could be shared amongst all researchers across borders, and they could collaborate with each other.
Further, with the complex equations used, it became faster to get results, thus leading researchers to hasten the pace of their research, and find solutions to some of the ailments which once defied the medical fraternity’s efforts to find solutions.
Today’s non invasive technologies like X-rays, CT Scans, CAT scans, MRIs and other similar diagnostic tools which are engineered by technologies, help the medical fraternity to find diseases faster, diagnose them quickly, and also to offer various other medication, earlier not known, due to the synergies between biology, medical fraternity and technology. All of these have been described above in a short and general form for you to assimilate and understand the co-relation between the three.
