Clinical engineering

Abstract

OVER THE PAST 100 YEARS, the health care system’s dependence on medical technology for thedelivery of its services has grown continuously. To some extent, all professional care providersdepend on technology, be it in the area of preventive medicine, diagnosis, therapeutic care, rehabilitation, administration, or health-related education and training. Medical technology enables Bronz: "2122_s007" - 2006/2/16 - 20:23 - page 2 - #2 practitioners to intervene through integrated interactions with their patients in a cost-effective, efficient, and safe manner. As a result, the field of clinical engineering has emerged as the discipline of biomedical engineering that fulfills the need to manage the deployment of medical technology and to integrate it appropriately with desired clinical practices.