Clinical Engineering is a distinctive field that encompasses engineering disciplines, biology, life sciences, medicine, clinical applications and improvement of human health. Clinical engineers use their technical skills and knowledge to design, develop and improve the equipment used in medical treatments and patient aftercare.
A clinical engineer designs equipment for monitoring, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation or research. They may design laser equipment or electronic aids for patients with disabilities and investigate the mechanics of the human body. They use physical sciences and their knowledge of materials and manufacturing to make significant contributions to diagnosis and treatment of disease, and also to rehabilitation of patients with
disabilities.
Job roles of clinical engineer: Designing and developing instruments for patient monitoring, diagnosis, treatment or research; responsibility for quality assurance of patient connected equipment in hospitals; building and testing of new joint replacements, active implants and equipment used for various types of non-invasive (or ‘’keyhole’’) or precision surgery; Those working in the rehabilitation field may deal with custom design and manufacture of aids such as wheelchairs or speech synthesisers etc. and research into the mechanics of the body.
Clinical engineers work closely with patients, technical and medical staff and administrative staff as well as equipment manufacturers. Many engineers work in large departments that deal with a variety of medical physics activities and are encouraged to share their specialist knowledge. Your main job opportunities would include hospitals, universities, research establishments like the Medical Research Council, and medical equipment manufacturers. You could also work in a university, combining research duties with teaching. If you have built up a lot of experience, you could become self-employed and work on a consultancy basis.
Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, offers M Tech programme in clinical engineering.

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