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Biofluid Dynamics and Biofluidics
One of the more interesting and newer subdisciplines of biomedical engineering is biofluid dynamics, which studies the way that fluids move in the body. Also known by the name of biofluidics, blood often takes center stage in research efforts, with specialists looking for ways to prevent the obstruction of blood passageways and how to promote optimal circulation within the body. However, other bodily fluids are also part of the research efforts, with experts looking at how to deal with urinary and reproductive problems that are due to poor fluid flow in the body. In most projects, the fluids are examined on a sub-cellular level, with particular attention to how an individual cell could react to stimuli.
Some biofluid dynamics studies look at arterioles, small blood passageways that are found in the body. These are some of the smallest transport lines for blood and at some points the individual red blood cells can only pass through a tight opening one at a time. This small diameter or opening in the passageway actually has an effect on the blood's viscosity in a process known as the Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect. By better understanding this relationship between blood and its containing vessels, a biofluid dynamics expert may be able to come up with the solution to keeping blood passageways open and thus preventing heart issues.
Other research projects could include a team of biofluidics professionals or students studying how the small blood passages that are found in cancerous tumors could be used to deliver medications that help to control the cancer. Because it is only recently that biomedical engineers have started looking at the sub-cellular flow of blood and other bodily fluids, the biofluidics discipline is a new and exciting field. Many medical experts predict that many of the latest medical discoveries will actually come from biofluid dynamics and other disciplines that examine what happens in the body on a smaller scale.
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