Biomedical engineering is an interdisciplinary field of study that integrates biology and medicine with engineering to solve problems related to living systems. It is an enabling technology with the important aim of improving outcomes in healthcare, for example, in diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring. Many e xciting advances in medicine such as artificial organs, pacemakers, medical imaging, computer-aided surgery, drug infusion pumps, prosthetic implants, life support systems and tissue repair are the result of synergistic collaboration between engineers and physicians. The recent establishment of institutes such as the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) in the United States and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) in Singapore are just two examples that highlight the continuing importance of biomedical engineering as a source of technological developments that can be employed for the betterment of human welfare.

With its wide range of expertise, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is eminently placed to engage in biomedical engineering activities. Some 20 academic staff of the Department participate in projects that involve the application of signal and image processing, instrumentation, lasers, information technology, microelectronics, electromagnetics

3D visualisation of the colon for polyp detection.

Calculated specific absorption rates inside the human head for a dipole antenna.

and systems modelling to challenging problems in medicine and the life sciences. The activities are diverse, ranging from the development of software tools and techniques for the correction of tooth misalignment, to the design and construction of biosensors for monitoring physiological signals. The next seven articles in this issue will give a flavour of the exciting research work being carried out in the Department.

Several laboratories support the research efforts, among which are the Biosignal Processing and Instrumentation Laboratory, Vision and Image Processing Laboratory, Control and Simulation Laboratory, Laser Laboratory, and the Microwave Laboratory. Being inherently multidisciplinary in nature, collaboration with researchers in other areas is essential if significant advances are to be made. To this end, links have been established with academics and researchers in the other engineering departments, the Faculty of Science, Faculty of Medicine, and national research institutes. Clinical inputs are provided by medical specialists from hospitals such as the National University Hospital.