The problem with biomed engineering? Too much details, not enough thinking. At least according to my wife. But she might just have a point there. She usually does.

Last night I was talking with my wife; About biomedical engineering, of course. She doesn’t like the field much, to be honest, and enjoy making attempts at subverting me to her point of view and dislike.

“Honey, I think the biomed industry is really coming to a halt,” said my darling with a serene smile on her face.

“Any why would that be, my love?” I queried gently.

“Well,” said she, “it’s just that I think this is too much of a men’s field, oh flower of my heart.”

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow. “I never knew you were a chauvinist, you beautiful thing you.”

“I didn’t mean it as a compliment,” she explained, “just that you men have no clue what you’re doing. Most of the male engineers and scientists just want to have fun. Blow things up, make a new robot, reach the stars. That sort of stuff. You want to do new things, break frontiers. It probably has something to do with testosterone.”

I coughed, and she started. “Sorry, I meant – it probably has something to do with testosterone, my love.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” I asked.

“Nothing, in general. I guess it’s nice to have men out there,” she relented. “But sometimes you get so obsessed with the inventing and fine-tuning that you forget about the people who need to use the device in the end. Let me give you an example: I read about this woman who was almost 100% paralyzed from the neck down, and one of you bioengineers recommended a new implant to her, to control her bladder.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” I objected.

“Not by itself,” she admitted, “but consider for a moment – what could a bladder prosthesis do for that woman? And that’s exactly what she said: she has a catheter attached all the time with a storage bag. If you gave her an implant to control the bladder, she would have had to go to the toilet – and then you would need to design prostheses for artificial hands as well.”

“I think I get it now,” I said. “You’re saying we’re putting too much focus on the technical details, and not enough on the real needs and wants of the person.”

“Exactly,” she smiled in victory. “You’re men.”

Share on Facebook

Popularity: 42% [?]