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Cardiovascular Engineering: Current Status, Future Trends, and its Emergence as a Discipline

Abstract

Cardiovascular (CV) engineering is emerging as a defined discipline in engineering educational programs due to rapid advances in CV diagnostics, therapeutics, and rehabilitation. The growth in science and technology has in turn catalyzed significant industrial expansion as a wide variety of companies develop the high-tech products of the present and future. These advances require engineers capable of intimate interdisciplinary collaborations, particularly with CV physicians at each stage of research, but especially in the translational phase of product development. CV engineering education programs, whether defined as such or embedded in broader engineering educational programs include the following areas of study: underlying basic science issues involving CV anatomy and physiology, fluid characterization and flow, systems engineering, materials aspects of prosthetic devices, sensor devices, MEMS technology, drug delivery, imaging, etc. The purpose of this presentation is to define the current state of CV educational programs in engineering. All biomedical engineering programs identified by the Whitaker Foundation were reviewed to determine the extent of CV engineering education. The goals of this analysis are: 1) understand the extent to which “cardiovascular engineering” is indeed an emerging engineering discipline; 2) determine the extent to which academic programs in biomedical, mechanical, and other areas of engineering are starting to provide curriculum in this area (along with future trends); 3) determine the extent to which (like other established disciplines) a broader infrastructure exists (societies, journals, technical meetings, etc.); 4) provide information on the extent to which formal research groups focusing on cardiovascular engineering have been established; and 5) develop foundational arguments why cardiovascular engineering should indeed continue to become its own discipline. Information regarding the parallel growth in the industrial sector will be included in the analysis. Finally, the development of Cardiovascular Engineering at our own institution will be discussed.

Emergence of Cardiovascular Engineering as a Research Discipline

Biomedical Engineering is a rapidly evolving discipline. While many programs may have started as an affiliation of engineers from “traditional” disciplines building bridges with medical and biological realms, many now are emerging as entities quite distinct from other departments. Inspection of some standard textbooks reveals a broad overview of topics in bioengineering or biomedical engineering1-3. However, in contrast to the approach that a “biomedical engineer” should have a broad understanding of fields such as biology, anatomy, physiology, it is apparent that subspecialty areas have arisen in which the focus is on one particular organ, tissue, or system. Cardiovascular engineering is one such specialization.

Recently, journals have been created specifically for this field. In an editorial, Körfer identified the need to create a forum to bring together surgeons, cardiologists as well as other physicians, bioengineers, and “specialists from all medical, biological and technical disciplines”, among others, who are interested in cardiovascular engineering problems, because he sees this as critical for the learning of new techniques and development of future innovations4. Likewise, a journal

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VanAuker, M., & Strom, J., & Lee, W. (2007, June), Cardiovascular Engineering: Current Status, Future Trends, And Its Emergence As A Discipline Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2579