The Medical Devices You Design Treat Chronic DiseaseBut Do EEs Want That Role in Someone’s Health? – News – All About Circuits

A friend of mine recently reminded me that members of my generation will probably die younger, on average, than our parents. Someone else in the room suggested that this is due to deaths not directly associated with illness.

Actually, no, he responded. The cause will be chronic disease. Ok, fine. Thats his opinion. The trouble is, this friend happens to be an intelligent, thoughtful, distinguished physician at a major regional hospital. When an opinion is based on a mountain of formal education and twenty-some years in the trenches of modern healthcare, Im inclined to listen.

Lifespan, though, is only part of the story.

Most human beings like to be not only alive but also happy, and one of the most effective destroyers of happiness is chronic disease. I am very concerned about the collective well-being of U.S. society when I read that the majority of adults have at least one chronic health condition. And this isnt just a North American problem. The United Nations is mobilizing resources to try to combat what has become a serious worldwide trendofchronic suffering and premature death.

In recent years, those healthcare resources have increasingly focused on biomedical technologiestechnologies that only electrical engineers can create. A discussion ofthis blurring line between healthcare science and electronics innovation can help us grapple with a reality where engineers are integral players in treating chronic disease.

Emory University in Atlanta recently broke ground on a biomedical research facility. The goal, of course, is to find new ways of improving health, and the means to this end are advanced imaging, flow cytometry, and other state-of-the-art technologies.

For me, its somewhat strange to read material like this, because it seems thatelectrical engineershave become a crucial bridge between various fieldscellular biology, physiology, materials engineering, mechanical engineering, theoretical physicsand the real-life healthcare world inhabited by doctors, nurses, and patients.

We live in a technological, and now thoroughly electronic, society, so its only natural that we would persistently emphasize the benefits and successes of electronic medical technology.The question is, Do we really belong in this position?

A closer look atrecent examples of EE-healthcare collaborations reveals the ways in which the two fields are converging.

Fitbit, for example,has recently announced an alliance withBristol-Myers Squibb-Pfizer, a major pharmaceutical company; the well-known biomedical firm is hoping that its health-monitoring devices can provide early warning for people at risk of stroke.

Another instance appeared in CalTech's recentarticle about a wearable sensor that measures levels of certain compounds in sweat that would allow doctors to more effectively monitor patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

At the end of October 2019, Zenerchi announced that with more than $2.1 million in seed funding, the company was creating medical technologyso advanced that I can hardly make sense out of it (what is a 4D human body simulator?).

These are just a few examples of the ever-deepening relationship between electrical engineering and the quest for health. Im concerned, thoughfinancial and human resources are limited, and what if these new technologies arent able to reverse the trend of chronic diseases, which according to the World Health Organization are the leading cause of humanitys death and disability and are accelerating globally, advancing across every region and pervading all socioeconomic classes?

There are no easy answers here. Electrical engineers undoubtedly have a role to play in the ongoing struggle for quality of life and freedom from oppressive illnesses, but Im no longer convinced that we understand exactly what that role should be. We need to recognize that our thoroughly electronic approach to medical care isnt working as we hoped it would, but then again, we dont have a feasible, large-scale alternative that can serve as a point of comparison.

Whats your take? Will electrical engineers become an increasingly vital link in the treatment of chronic disease? Do you want to be that vital link? Or is it time to consider new paradigms in which electrical engineering has a more subdued status in the global quest for vibrant health and longer life?

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The Medical Devices You Design Treat Chronic DiseaseBut Do EEs Want That Role in Someone's Health? - News - All About Circuits