The Department of Bioengineering at CMC Vellore was established in 2003 with the goal of promoting interdisciplinary research and education in using engineering principles to solve healthcare problems. The discipline of Bioengineering has engineering at its core and includes the physics, mathematics, mechanics, electronics, and computational methods applied to physiology and medicine. The department carries out both basic science and applied research in medical instrumentation, mathematical analysis of physiological processes, biomechanics, motor control and learning, and neurorehabilitation.
The research and teaching activities of the department are carried out in close collaboration with several other departments in CMC Vellore. The department has postgraduate courses leading to the degrees of MS-Bioengineering, M.Tech. in Clinical Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Devices – the M.Tech. and Ph.D. Biomedical Devices being jointly with IIT-Madras and SCTIMST-Trivandrum. See the Training section for more details. The department has developed devices and technologies for medical diagnosis, therapy, and rehabilitation.
The primary research focus in Bioengineering at CMC is on physiological measurements and instrumentation, sensorimotor control and learning and Rehabilitation Engineering. A major part of our past and current activities has been in physiological measurements, prostheses and assistive devices, electrodiagnostic, functional electrical stimulation (FES), and Neuro-rehabilitation technology.
The current major area of focus for the department is in developing & validating neurorehabilitation tools and methods for the optimal assessment and training of sensorimotor function following various neuromusculoskeletal conditions. Both engineering and basic science research activities are carried out in pursuit of this goal. On the engineering side, technology-based therapy tools are developed, which include robotic devices, sensor-based systems, and electrical stimulation systems. On the basic science front, research is focused mainly on experimental and computational work in human motor control and learning.
Postgraduate engineering programmes
MS and PhD programmes at the Bioengineering Department
The academic programme in Bioengineering leads to the degrees of MS and Ph.D. The degrees are awarded under Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum. The department also co-ordinates joint academic programmes with IIT-Madras and SCTIMST-Trivandrum at CMC Vellore, leading to the degrees of M.Tech in Clinical Engineering and Ph.D. in Biomedical Devices.
All postgraduate student research in Bioengineering is supervised jointly by engineering and medical faculty.
Lecture and seminar-based courses on Instrumentation, Imaging Systems, Physiological Systems, and Signal Processing form part of the basic training. Both the MS Bioengineering and PhD are specialized engineering programmes with an emphasis on research. MS candidates will undertake a research project of one-year duration, while Ph.D. candidates will undertake a substantially larger research project. Students will interact closely with at least one of the clinical or basic science departments to formulate a research question.
These degrees will equip the students to apply quantitative and engineering methods to solve healthcare problems. Career prospects include research and development in the medical devices industry, and academic research as well as careers in teaching.
