FACTA UNIVERSITATIS  
Series: Mechanical Engineering Vol. 16, N

o
 3, 2018, pp. i - ii 

© 2018 by University of Niš, Serbia | Creative Commons License: CC BY-NC-ND 

Editorial 

 FOREWORD TO THE THEMATIC ISSUE: 

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 

The readers who are not so familiar with the latest advances in the field of biomedical 

engineering might be curious to know the reasons why a journal such as Facta Universitatis: 

Mechanical Engineering is devoting the whole issue to the matters in question. Yet this is not 

so difficult to guess knowing that an increasing amount of research is currently being done in 

biomedical engineering. Even this is in itself worth exploring considering so many aspects 

involved in the given area but for now we would like to stress only two of the more prominent 

ones. 

The first reason for increasing research in the field of biomedical engineering is related 

to the wish to provide for the needs of a rising number of the elderly. Median age of the 

world population has increased from 24 to 30,9 years in the last 30 years
1
. It is predicted 

that by the year 2050 the number will rise to 36,8 years. This results in a dramatic increase 

in life expectancy. According to the World Population Ageing 2017 report
2
, there were 962 

million people aged 60 years or over in the whole world, which is an increase of 152% 

comparing with 383 million of the same population in 1980. This revolutionary change in 

life expectancy for only 37 years, caused by better nutrition, quality of life and better 

medicaments, is not in line with the evolutionary changes in the characteristics of human 

organs that need millennia to adapt. In order to cope up with the problems that could not be 

resolved by medical means only, health care industry sought help from engineering. 
The second reason for an increased interest in the field of biomedical engineering is 

further advancement of those scientific disciplines and technologies that have proven 
themselves capable of solving the unresolved. A great number of them can be found in the 
fields of mechanical or electrical engineering, ICT, chemical engineering, biomolecular 
engineering and the like. Of those that are close to mechanical engineering it is worth 
mentioning reverse engineering, additive technologies, nano materials, biomaterials, finite 
element method, artificial intelligence, robotics and especially nano-robotics. 

Moreover, it is well known that in the seventies of the 20th century there began 
convergence of two disciplines, namely, of information and telecommunication technologies 
which in time resulted in the emergence of a new discipline – ICT. A similar process is now 
taking place in the areas of medicine and engineering. It is increasingly difficult to distinguish 
where medicine ends and engineering begins, and vice versa. Therefore, the term biomedical 
engineering is increasingly used when referring to solving problems in health care. Bearing in 
mind that many solutions are based on machine technologies, we have decided to prepare a 
thematic issue dedicated to biomedical engineering. 

                                                           
 

1
 Median age of the world population from 1990 to 2015 and forecast until 2100, https://www.statista.com/statistics/ 

268766/median-age-of-the-world-population/, Accessed on Dec 7, 2018. 
2
 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017). World Population 

Ageing 2017 (ST/ESA/SER.A/408) 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/268766/median-age-of-the-world-population/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/268766/median-age-of-the-world-population/


ii Foreword to the Thematic Issue: Biomedical Engineering 

The selected state-of-the-art papers presented in this issue illustrate in the best possible 

way multidisciplinary nature of biomedical engineering. The papers point up the achieved 

results in various domains of the given field, including biomaterials, reverse engineering, 

smart devices, additive technologies, specific modeling techniques, to name but a few. Each 

paper, in its own way, contributes to further development of biomedical engineering – an 

adventure that has just begun while offering a prosperous future. In this sense, this issue 

gives a large picture of the current state of development while highlighting some important 

paths for the future development of this inspiring field of research. 

 

 
 

Miroslav Trajanović 

Guest Editor 

 

 

Osiris Canciglieri Junior 

Guest Editor