Biomedical Desk Reference

The basic language of biology and medicine seems strange, and it should—it is essentially a foreign language, filled with words of Latin and Greek origin, diseases that are identified named after the physician who discovered it rather than the cause or effect, and is otherwise made up of abbreviations and other obscure terminology and information that only a trained physician or researcher would know. Yet many professionals are required to have at least a rudimentary knowledge of biomedical terminology and information, and frequently they are at a loss in understanding even the simplest concepts and terms. For example, how would an engineer know how the various systems of the body work together as an organism? Would a nurse know the difference between the acetabulum and acetylcholine? How can a lawyer or journalist become familiar with common clinical abbreviations and terminology? How can a patient understand his or her own medical record?

The Biomedical Desk Reference is intended to be a handy, easy-to-reach for compilation of useful biomedical terminology. The volume contains the following sections: Basic Anatomical vocabulary and Physiologic Concepts; Basic Medical and Physiologic Terminology; Common Clinical Abbreviations; Terms Commonly Used in Health-Care Administration, Insurance, and Legal Settings; Biomedical Eponyms; Medical Prefixes and Suffixes; Synopsis of Major Diseases, Drugs, and Treatments; The Anatomy of the Medical Record. Biomedical Desk Reference also contains a wealth of appendices showing conversion charts, common vital signs, laboratory values of physiologic importance, useful physical constants, definitions, and formulae.

This comprehensive reference book will be useful for biomedical engineers, lawyers and legal secretaries, physician's assistants, medical secretaries, nurses, biomedical technicians, laboratory technicians, hospital administrators, ward clerks, aides, and other medical laypersons.

Daniel J. Schneck is Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University where he directs the Program in Biomedical Engineering. Trained in both engineering and medicine, Dr. Schnecks research interests are in the areas of cardiovascular and musculoskeletal mechanics. Dr. Schneck has served as chairman of the Biomedical Engineering Division of ASEE and president of the Biomedical Engineering Society.

Alan R. Tempkin served as chief of inpatient rehabilitation at Lewis-Gale Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia and was director of rehabilitation at the Northern California Center for Rehabilitation in Sacramento, California.