Clinical engineering: Evolution of a discipline

The incredible pace of technological innovation in the field of medical care has driven the development of modern, technologically sophisticated healthcare centers. As a result, engineering professionals have been increasingly drawn into the healthcare system to manage, develop, and maintain the medical devices and systems which these centers employ for the effective delivery of healthcare services. The continued advances and applications of medical technology have created a new and growing profession — clinical engineering — which relatively is still in the process of evolution. This paper presents some insights regarding the history and future direction of this discipline.