title: The development of biomedical engineering as experienced by one biomedical engineer.
abstract: This personal essay described the development of the field of Biomedical Engineering from its early days, from the perspective of one who lived through that development. It describes the making of a major invention using data that had been rejected by other scientists, the re-discovery of an obscure fact of physiology and its use in developing a major medical instrument, the development of a new medical imaging modality, and the near-death rescue of a research project. The essay concludes with comments about the development and present status of impedance imaging, and recent changes in the evolution of biomedical engineering as a field.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180, USA. newelj@rpi.edu
authors.forename: Jonathan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Newell
mesh_terms: D001698:Biomedical Engineering / Q000193:education / Q000266:history*; D017097:Electric Impedance; D004560:Electricity; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D011859:Radiography; D014054:Tomography