Biomedical Process Design
A Definition

Biomedical Process Design is one of those areas that Edward T. Woodruff has experience.  This sheet is information for your interest and edification..  Please see Home and Accomplishments to learn more about our contributions and performance results.

Biomedical Process Design applies the engineering principles and procedures for design to problems of a medical nature in humans. Biomedical process design encompasses the disciplines of biochemical engineer, biomechanical engineer and bioelectrical engineer. All of these disciplines make up the field for biomedical process design.

In the 1990's the Grace Research Division developed technology in the biomedical arena.  This brought Edward T. Woodruff into the field of biomedical process design..  The projects that we worked on included the artificial pancreas, the LDL device and the LAD device.  These products used hollow fiber membranes to separate the human's blood flow from the (biologically) active components on the shell side of the membrane.  The artificial pancreas idea was to be an implantable that would generate insulin for diabetics.  The LDL device would be outside the body and used to remove Cholesterol from the blood stream.  The LAD device was explored to assist cancer patients whose liver function was in bad shape.

Biomedical process design is used to design and build commercial plants that make important items of the time in which we now live. There are many diseases and maladies humans find themselves in which production facilities done via biomedical process design can produce the drugs and medications that may well help solve their problems. Implants are made in facilities that underwent biomedical process design. Biomedical process design has been done for facilites that produce woven acrylic artificial arteries to prevent blood clotting too rapidly in arterial blood vessels. Silicone capsules, to protect cardiac pacemakers and to allow their integration into the human tissue are made in plants that were done via biomedical process design. Biomedical process design spearheaded the production facilities to produce the artificial kidney for patients beyond recovery otherwise.

Biomedical process design has been used for plants that advance the technology for human health and safety. Developments achieved in the field covered by the subject of biomedical process design for the bioelectrical engineer include the pacemaker, the defibrillator, and the electrocardiograph. Other biomedical process design for plant production are from the biomechanical engineer which consist of the iron lung, artificial implants, artificial limbs, and artificial hearts.

All of this is achieved under the term biomedical process design.

See also biomedical engineer and biomedical engineering.

Also see Accomplishments.