14 IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY MAGAZINE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006

Book Reviews

Engineering for Patient Safety:Issues in Minimally InvasiveProceduresEdited by Jenny Dankelman, CorneliusGrimbergen, and Henk Stassen,Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2005.ISBN: 0-8058-4905-X, xx + 300 pages,US$79.95.

This text is the outgrowth of a pro-gram on minimally invasive surgeryand interventional techniques, funded atDelft University by the board of theuniversity. The text is a product of thecollaboration of several clinicians, engi-neering faculty, and graduate studentswhose interests and studies coincidedwith the work reported here. The text isalso the first of a patient safety series tobe published by the Erlbaum Press. Theseries editor is Marilyn Susan Bogner.The series is off to a great start!

The text consists of 12 chapters, eachof which will be briefly described.Chapter 1, “Introduction to MinimallyInvasive Surgery,” covers a brief historyof minimally invasive surgery and con-trasts the benefits and disadvantages ofthis technique with conventionalsurgery. An introduction to clinicallydriven research sets the stage for lateranalysis of various studies of techniquesand devices.

Chapter 2, “Evaluation of the SurgicalProcess,” discusses various methodsand introduces the reader to differentmetrics used in quality analysis (postop-erative measures, time constraints, time-action analysis, flowcharting, andefficiency). This is a very good chapterto use for design or instrumentationclass examples.

Chapter 3, “Observation andManipulation in Laparoscopic Surgery,”discusses the many problems that areapparent to the surgeon using these tech-niques (as opposed to standard surgicaltechniques). A few of the prototypedevices developed at Delft to solve

some of the indicated problems ana-lyzed are discussed here (a pattern thatoccurs in may of the following chap-ters). Chapter 4, “Eye-Hand Coordin-ation in Laparoscopy,” covers severalmethods used to make the surgical pro-cedure more intuitive. The DaVinci sur-gical system is used as a very goodexample of a reasonable but expensivesolution. “Force Transmission ofLaparoscopic Graspers,” chapter 5, dis-cusses the need to provide force feed-back to the surgeon. One prototype toprovide a useful feedback signal is dis-cussed and evaluated.

Chapter 6, “Safe Manipulation ofBowel Tissue,” discusses the design andtesting of various grippers to be used forsafe retraction of bowel tissues. Chapter7 discusses “Design and Evaluation ofEndoscope Positioners” and discussesmeasurements in the clinical environ-ment. Chapter 8 discusses “Design ofArthroscopic Instruments,” reviewingthe need for instruments that can flex toreach areas not easily reached with cur-rent instruments. Chapter 9, “VirtualColonoscopy,” reviews current tech-niques using barium (with X rays) oroptical methods and contrasts the resultswith those that can be obtained withthree-dimensional computed tomo-graphic (fly through) imaging of thebowel. Missing is a discussion of thenewer techniques using a pill camerathat can be swallowed.

Chapter 10 discusses “Steering ofCatheters,” making the point that usingX rays to locate the catheter tip during aprocedure results in unnecessary radia-tion doses to both patient and provider.The potential use of magnetic trackingof the catheter tip is discussed. Chapter11, “Sensors for Catheters andGuidewires,” is a good general discus-sion of the types of sensors availableand several of the design constraints thatmust be satisfied.

Chapter 12, “The Future of MinimallyInvasive Surgery and Training,” brieflyrecaps the design problems listed in ear-lier chapters and some of the researchthat needs to be done to solve them. Italso initiates a discussion of the need forbetter training facilities.

This text is very well written andsuperbly referenced. Therefore, it is agood text for anyone facing problemsrelated to the development of equip-ment for minimally invasive surgery. Ithas some excellent sections that can beused for example discussions in adesign or instrumentation class. It is anexcellent reference text for investigatorsin this area.

—Paul H. KingVanderbilt University

Introduction to BiomedicalEngineering (2nd Edition)John Enderle, Susan Blanchard, andJoseph Bronzino, Elsevier AcademicPress, 2005. ISBN: 0-12-238662-0,1,140 pages, US$90.00.

Biomedical engineering involvesapplying the concepts, knowledge, andapproaches of virtually all engineeringdisciplines (e.g., electrical, mechanical,and chemical engineering) to solve spe-cific healthcare-related problems; theopportunities for interaction betweenengineers and healthcare professionalsare many and varied.

The medically relevant design prob-lems can range from very complexlarge-scale constructs, such as thedesign and implementation of auto-mated clinical laboratories, multipha-sic screening facilities, and hospitalinformation systems, to the creation ofrelatively small and simple devices,such as recording electrodes and trans-ducers that may be used to monitor theactivity of specific physiologicalprocesses in either a research or clini-cal setting. They encompass the many

Paul H. King

16 IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY MAGAZINE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006

Book Reviews (continued)

complexities of remote monitoring andtelemetry and include the requirementsof emergency vehicles, operatingrooms, and intensive care units.

The world of biomedical engineer-ing includes biomechanics, prostheticdevices and artificial organs, medicalimaging, biomaterials, biotechnology,tissue engineering, neural engineer-ing, biomedical instrumentation, bio-nano-technology, physiologicalmodeling, rehabilitation engineering,medical and bioinformatics, clinicalengineering, biosensors, and medicaland biological analysis.

The purpose of the second edition ofthis volume in the Academic Press Seriesin Biomedical Engineering remains thesame as the first edition: to serve as anintroduction to an overview of the fieldof biomedical engineering. The textbookprovides a historical perspective of themajor developments in specific biomed-ical domains as well as the fundamentalprinciples underlying biomedical engi-neering design, analysis, and modelingprocedures in those domains.

The editors and authors provide themost thorough review of concepts frombiomaterials and tissue engineering tobioinstrumentation and medical imaging.

The material in this textbook is pre-sented in the following 17 chapters:“Biomedical Engineering: A HistoricalPerspective”; “Moral and EthicalIssues”; “Anatomy and Physiology”;“Biomechanics”; “RehabilitationEngineering and Assistive Technology”;“Biomaterials”; “Tissue Engineering”;“Bioinstrumentation”; “BiomedicalSensors”; “Biosignal Processing”;“Bioelectric Phenomena”; “Physiologi-cal Modeling”; “Genomics and Bio-informatics”; “Computational CellBiology and Complexity”; “RadiationImaging”; “Medical Imaging”; and“Biomedical Optics and Lasers.”

—Armando PerraioliItaly

Usability and Internationalizationof Information TechnologyEdited by Nuray Akin, LawrenceErlbaum Associates, 2004. ISBN:0805844791, 366 pages, US$40.00.

Our society is becoming increas-ingly reliant on information technol-ogy (IT) because of the simple truththat i t has introduced freedom,worldwide connectedness, and lossof remoteness. From finding a sub-way map of Prague for vacation, aromantic restaurant in Paris, or anightclub in Las Vegas to locatingthe best buys for books, movie tick-ets, mortgages, or cowboy boots,many of us find that the use of IT isa supremely valuable enhancement tothe quality of our lives. Ensuring thatIT is effectively utilized across cul-turo-continental boundaries is theprime focus of Akin’s Usability andInternationalization of InformationTechnology. Developed in the spiritof Human Factors and Ergonomics(series editor: Gavriel Salvendy), thisvolume is part of a larger series dedi-cated to topics on interacting withour “information society.”

Our initial reaction was how suchan incredibly broad topic could bedutifully covered in a medium-sizedpaperback (366 pages cover to cover).The book’s three sections comprise 11chapters authored by foremost practi-tioners from the United States,Europe, and Asia. The focus rangesacross guidelines and practices forinternationalization and localization,cultural consideration and guidelinesin the design of IT, usability evalua-tion methodology and cost-benefitanalysis for cross-cultural design andconcludes with a few case studies.While the series and text editors donot claim to have included all theanswers, they, in collaboration withthe contributing authors, have done animpressively thorough job in eitheraddressing the most pressing interna-tionalization questions or offeringresources where the unanswered ques-tions may be further researched.

Indeed, one of the greatest strengthsof this book is the breadth of what iscovered, and by selecting some of theleaders in the field as authors, the edi-tors have provided the necessaryauthority to the writing, even if styleschange from chapter to chapter.

Certainly readable, this volume maybest serve as an invaluable referencetool to any who wish to gracefullyconvey topics of interest beyond theborders of their home countries andcultures. As the cover image (aninverted globe) suggests, the chal-lenge of internationalized commerceand the ever-increasing diversity ofthe workplace is turning cultural bias-es and misconceptions on their ear. Itis imperative for aspiring and estab-lished enterprises in need of an inter-national portal to take heed of thenumerous communication issuesaddressed in this volume.

Of course, there are some inconsis-tencies and some omissions. Why, forexample, is the important issue ofhealth information transmission in ourmodern biomedical era never men-tioned? International health IT is sig-nificant for tracking public healththreats/problems, enhancing the quali-ty of medical care, and even reducing asubstantial amount of our healthcareexpenditures. In addition to the afore-mentioned major problem, the text isrife with typeface, spelling, and gram-matical bloopers that are difficult toignore. Additionally, we have a gripeabout the quality of the figures. Weincreasingly depend on visual imagesin order to learn; yet the book ispacked with rather dull black-and-white illustrations and some relataivelysubstandard hand drawings.

While certainly not the final stop forall aspects of information transfer, thisquick and easy romp in the field ofhuman factors and social interactionwill guide the reader through variedtopics such as interface design and cul-tural issues, financial and legalisticconcerns, and justification and valida-tion. As an overall package, this vol-ume is an opportune rendition to theengineering and IT community by thecontributors. The most important ques-tion, however, is whether we wouldbuy this book. The answer is yes!

—Diana Anderson and Guruprasad Madhavan

State University of New York,Binghamton