Bio-medical engineering is a fast growing science and its applications are extremely important in the healthcare industry today. The use of biomedical engineering, widely accepted only since 1980, is considered critical in many areas including modeling of human systems, diagnostics (particularly diagnosis of genetic disorders) and in material technology, according to prof Alladi Prabhakar, member, Society of Biomedical Scientists (India) and fellow, AP Akademi of Sciences.

Modeling human systems has been a real challenge for the bio-medical engineers, as human organs have multiple functions. For instance, he said, nose has an air conditioning system and also helps in smelling objects. Kidneys in human also have various functions. But, engineers should constantly strive for developing models that can help physicians.

He complained, institutes that offer the courses on bio-medical engineering in India lack professional approach. As the engineers are not well trained in the field, they had failed to make any impact on the society. He said, Stethoscopes, which were developed long back, have hardly undergone any technical advancement. Mentioning the advances made in this field, he said, telemedicine has been proved as an useful means of treating even those patients who are located in a far away places and which allows exchange of expertise and experience of one physician with other.

It is significant to note, recognizing the importance of the bio-medical sciences, India and the European Union had planned for a major collaboration in the field of bio-medical science, nano-technologies and a host of other areas. The central government has signed a formal agreement with Italy on November 29, 2003 in this regard. The agreement will pave the way for enhanced collaboration in scientific and technological fields with the entire European Union.

As part of the agreement both the countries would facilitate mutual access and utilization of advanced research facilities in each other's country. There would be virtual networking of scientific research laboratories and academia from both sides. The agreement also envisages the establishment of joint research centers and labs as well as joint centers of excellence in India. The projects will be promoted through the European Union and other international organizations for funding and joint technology transfer.

India and Italy will strive for enhancing their industrial competitiveness in the global market by way of new products and services based on appropriate joint scientific research and development of technologies.

The engineering colleges in the country produce over 400 biomedical engineers every year whereas the demand for this category of professionals is much more in the country. The demand is mainly growing from the hospitals, healthcare companies, medical electronics companies.