Description:
This is quite simply put a multi-disciplinary field at the heart of which lies the subject most engineers hate - BIOLOGY. There are numerous sub-branches students can concentrate on in the graduate studies.
Bioinstrumentation and medical imaging are two closely related fields which involve creating electronic equipment and other instruments for medical usage and usage of light, sound and radiation for processing medical images. You will basically be constructing stuff like ECG machines and sonographs. Study of biomaterials and creating synthetic ones for usage is another important aspect overlapping with materials science.
Biomechanics involves analysing mechanics and motions of living organisms and correcting the flaws in them. A typical example of a biomechanist is one who checks to see the legitimacy of a bowling action.
Tissue engineering requires large amounts of knowledge of biology and involves putting replacing living cells with synthetic ones.
Lastly, the aspect of drug delivery technology involves improving the drugs are administered and improving the instruments required to do so.
Pre-Requisites:
For someone looking to specialise in biomedical electronics, an undergrad in ECE/EXTC/Electronics will suffice but if you intend to deviate into other fields then it’s essential that you have done a specialised course like biomedical or biotechnology. Moreover, proficiency in mathematics and programming is a must apart from basic knowledge of biology which you will require.
Prospects:
Jobs are aplenty in biomedical or pharmaceutical companies which create products and give supporting infrastructure to the medical field. The companies which are hot favourites are GE Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson and P&G. Research scope is present in fields like biomedical optics and photonics, biosurfaces, neuroengineering and multi-scale biomechanics.