INTRODUCTION

1.1 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING IN FINLAND

Biomedical Engineering is an interdisciplinary branch of science applying various fields of technology and their methods to Medicine and Public Health. From a broad perspective, Biomedical Engineering embraces the utilization of all technical disciplines in Medicine. In Finland, research and education have, however, primarily concentrated on the application of expertise in Electronics, Computer Science and Physics. Combining the achievements of technical disciplines with medical knowledge calls for first-rate expertise based on high-quality specialist education.

As a field requiring specialist education and expertise, biomedical engineering is an ideal present and future employer in Finnish society. The biomedical engineering industry in Finland manufactures high-technology products, and the export rate of the industry is extremely high, exceeding 95% with the largest companies. Biomedical engineering companies invest in research and development, and the high-technology products of the field are indeed among the most technology-intensive category, in which the R&D-intensiveness exceeds 8.5%. Personnel growth in the field has been rapid and, according to the 1995 statistics, there were almost 150 biomedical engineering companies, employing approximately 4,300 persons. The total turnover of these companies amounted to approximately FIM 3.6 billion. The industry is primarily located in the proximity of university hospitals and universities of technology. The field of biomedical engineering is on a continuous increase. Due to more advanced methods and equipment and the increased medical knowledge, the growth rate would only appear to accelerate.

Along with the growth in the field, the need for education in Biomedical Engineering has also increased in recent years. Consequently, curricula including Biomedical Engineering have been set up at many universities. In addition to Tampere University of Technology, education is at present provided by Helsinki University of Technology and the Universities of Kuopio, Oulu and Turku.