Biomechanical engineering is a
bioengineering subdiscipline, which applies principles of
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...
to
biological systems and stems from the scientific discipline of
biomechanics
Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of ...
. Topics of interest in the field include
biomedical engineering
Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...
and
agricultural engineering
Agricultural engineering, also known as agricultural and biosystems engineering, is the field of study and application of engineering science and designs principles for agriculture purposes, combining the various disciplines of mechanical, civil, ...
.
Biomechanics
Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of ...
, specifically, is the study of biological systems such as the human body, combined with the study of mechanics, or mechanical applications. Using the skills learned from biology, engineering, and physics to research and development for health care, such as organs that have been made from artificial materials, or new advances with prosthetic limbs. The creation of
biomaterial
A biomaterial is a substance that has been engineered to interact with biological systems for a medical purpose, either a therapeutic (treat, augment, repair, or replace a tissue function of the body) or a diagnostic one. As a science, biomateria ...
, which is a synthetic material that can be integrated into living tissue or can live in sync with biological material, is one of the biggest advances in medicine to this day. Those in this field might also hold the job of not only installing, but also adjusting, maintaining, repairing, and providing technical help for all the biomaterial. The combination of knowledge from mechanical engineering and biology is used to potentially improve quality of life for an organism.
Research Groups
Stanford University Mechanical EngineeringDelft University of TechnologyGeorgia Institute of Technology(broken since December 2011)
North Carolina State University(broken since December 2011)
References
Engineering disciplines
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