Biomedical engineering: the career that uses medicine, technology and AI to treat incurable diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s

This technology will be of great help to millions of Peruvians who need, for example, a prosthesis, artificial organsbut also for older adults with very common neurological conditions in our country such as Parkinson’she Alzheimer’samong others, especially if we take into account that, according to the 2025 census carried out by the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI)in about 15 years, the population over 60 years of age will surpass children, mainly due to low birth rates, a trend that has been increasing for two decades.

This is a clear symptom of an aging Peruvian populationa trend that is not exclusive to our country, but something that, for example, they have been experiencing Europe and the USA for 3 decades. Given this, head of the INEI, Gaspar Morán Flores He told the newspaper El Comercio: “this aging process is seen in the average ages that are managed: in 2017 it was 32 years old, now it is 34. This is due to two transformations: Fewer children are born and people live longer. This poses new challenges that the country must begin to face now, since we are going through a stage of demographic transition that advances at different rates throughout the national territory and that varies depending on the department.”

What is Biomedical Engineering?

Given these scenarios and with the development of new technologies that have been incorporated into the various medical specialties, at the same time as the appearance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which is being integrated into the evolution of medicine, is that since the last decade diagnoses have become much more accurate, while providing a significant improvement in treatments that have a direct impact on improving the quality of life of patients.

In the neurological branch, AI has been a great ally when analyzing medical images, but also for processing brain signals, brain-computer interfaces, as well as remote monitoring, which has revolutionized medical care in this field worldwide and Peru has not been left behind by having careers such as Biomedical Engineering which is characterized by integrating health with engineering.

According to the Carlos Ojeda, main professor of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Piura (UDEP)this career, more than being a profession of the future, is already one of the present: “It allows us to use cutting-edge technologies and, with the arrival of data engineering, artificial intelligence, with the technological gap narrowing, it will be very helpful for people.”

What does a biomedical engineering professional do?

However, as such a new field of medicine in our country, it is extremely necessary to know what functions are performed by this type of professionals who combine knowledge that goes beyond human medicine.

Ojeda describes it this way: “Its function is to identify, formulate and solve complex biomedical engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, basic sciences and health sciences.. Another is to communicate properly, to be a bridge between the doctor, the healthcare personnel and the technological personnel of the companies. Likewise, knowing how to select and apply biomedical technology in the field of health.”

Its application also lies in designing prostheses, artificial organs, implants (to restore mobility or body functions), pacemakers and artificial intelligence for medical diagnosis, design of medical equipment to monitor vital signs, pulmonary ventilators, defibrillators, but also to manage the operation of equipment in medical centers.

And it is that the Biomedical Engineering It is not a whimsical discipline, quite the opposite, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)in its most recent projections, assures that employment in bioengineering and biomedical engineering will grow by at least 5%.

What is the situation of biomedical engineering in Peru?

Currently, the biomedical engineering in Peru It is a fairly new career, which can only be found in three universities: the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), the National University of Engineering (UNI) and the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH); in the case of the University of Piura (UDEP) This study house will open this career starting in March 2027, which will consist of 5 years of studies. In the case of the latter, it has important agreements with internationally renowned institutions, such as the Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma (Italy); the University of Navarra (Spain), the Polytechnic University of Madrid (Spain) and the Austral University (Argentina).

However, the path to travel is still very long: “All this baggage has not yet passed to the application phase because there are barriers and regulations. Likewise, the things that are studied at the university do not yet have application in the country, that is, they are not reflected in practice. Without implementing state health policies we will not be able to continue moving forward, so it is up to us to contribute to making this happen.”, adds the professor.

He was also emphatic in highlighting how important it is that, sooner rather than later, these new technologies in the care of various illnesses be democratized, that is, that they are not exclusive to private health care, but also that they reach State establishments: “We intend to reach patients from Minsa, Essalud, even from medical posts, to reach all Peruviansbut, that’s a long way to go. It is necessary to understand that the biomedical engineering It is a catalyst for technology and innovation in Peru. “We want that to be our contribution to society from the university.”

However, Carlos Ojeda confesses that, until now, Peruvian specialists in this matter have not had approaches with entities such as the Ministry of Health: “We want to go with more solid things, come up with something more worked, tested at a trial level.”

Older adult population will need biomedical engineering

As we mentioned at the beginning of this report, INEI projects that in just over a decade the population of older adults will be higher than other age groupsthis will lead to new challenges, among them health and that is where the biomedical engineering to, for example, help in the treatment of neurological diseases.

And among the most recurrent in Peru, the Parkinson’s and the Alzheimer’s that, according to National Institute of Neurological Sciencesour country currently has 30 thousand people who suffer from the first, while around 13 thousand suffer from the second, according to Ministry of Health (Minsa).

“In the case of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, they require constant monitoring, it is very personalized, in addition to being diseases that have no cure. The objective is to give them quality of life. The symptoms appear progressively and we must attend to this in advance. This is done through specialized sensors,” explains Carlos Ojeda, a professor at UDEP.

In that sense, Ojeda affirms that biomedical engineering, for diseases such as Parkinson’sit is important for detect subtle alterations when walkingbut also “imperceptible tremors. This can be diagnosed with time using this technology.”

For him Alzheimer’sreveals that another technology would be used such as suitable software, but also based on algorithms that learn from the patient, as well as “developing medical brain images and behavioral data that help neurologists make predictions about the progression of the disease. It will not be cured, but it will provide relief and give a great quality of life.”.

However, it will be just as vital for other conditions that are very common among Peruvians, such as cardiovascular problems where, according to Minsa82% of deaths in people over 65 years of age are the result of coronary heart disease and with more than 57 thousand people at high risk of suffering from heart disease, where the main factor is arterial hypertension (HTN).

Is Peru’s population aging?

According INEIthe pEruans over 60 years of age will exceed the population under 15 years of age by 20 thousand inhabitants by 2040a trend in this part of the world, just as it happened 3 decades ago in Europe: “population aging is one of the main demographic phenomena in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Peru, 5 million 50 thousand people aged 60 or over represent 14.8%; in 2050 they will be 24%. On the other hand, the population under 15 years of age in 2025 represents 22.7%, in 2050 They will be 17.6% of the total population,” said the highest authority of the state entity.

All this has a basis in the present, since the average fertility rate nationwide is 1.7 children. In that sense, INEI reveals that in Metropolitan Lima it is 1.3 children per woman, while in jungle regions such as Loreto and Amazonas, the rate is 2.8, that is, 3 children per woman. OK Moran FloresPeru is in a “demographic transition” that “began in 2005 and will last until 2045, a time in which countries took advantage of this ‘demographic bonus’ to grow economically.”

Likewise, he detailed some of the causes of this drop in the fertility rate in our country: “Among other things, the entry of women into the labor field, into the educational environment, forming part of the economically active population (EAP)so they have postponed weddings and births”, without failing to mention social and economic factors typical of a country like Peru.

He head of the INEI highlights that each ministerial portfolio must evaluate the reforms to take into account with this new demographic reality, highlighting that it is necessary to have better public policies on issues such as health, but also in relation to retiree pensions: “we will have a population group that will not have a pension at the end of their working age. “That will be a problem for the state.”

However, the big question is whether this demographic trend is reversible or, on the contrary, it is a destiny that Peru and Latin American countries will experience, as is happening today more dramatically in Europe or the United States.

“We predict that the global fertility rate will decline further each year. In 2024, it was 1.8, now it is 1.7. Everything indicates that it will continue to decrease (…) The young population is not in Lima, nor in Callao, nor in Arequipa, but in places like Loreto or in Amazonas. In the jungle the fertility rate is high, but in places like Metropolitan Lima it is 1.3, that is, almost nothing and this is where 30% of the population is concentrated,” he said. Moran.