Biomedical Engineering 2013: The State of The Art

Abstract

The ubiquitous aspiration to health and life propels healthcare industry as the world's biggest industrial sector. Biomedical engineering (BME) occupies a central place in healthcare industry and it is one of the few areas of engineering that, as a whole, is expected to continue to grow for many years. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 21 percent growth for biomedical engineers, with an estimated 3,000 new careers created in the industry through 2016. Prospects are less optimistic in Europe and and a recent analysis called for steps from the EU Parliament in order to offer biomedical engineering adequate funding and support. In Romania the gap is yet larger: a precarious setting is due not to schooling capabilities or total number of professionals but to the very weak absorption of the practitioners into the health public system. At present the Academy of Medical Sciences of Bucharest tries to promote improvements by means of programming the EU structural funds for 2014 – 2020. In Moldova the establishing of the Moldavian Society of BME in 2010 and the recent setting up of the Chair of “Microelectronics and Biomedical Engineering” within the Technical University’s IT & C Department hold a good promise for the future of medical technologies and public health.