Paxton Patterson Biomedical Engineering Practice Test

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• During dialysis, waste material is taken out of the blood and then washed away.
• What is the primary purpose of an intravenous line (IV)?
• Which description best explains how CAD compares to hand drafting?
• Why can patient movement create artifacts in medical imaging or monitoring?
• How can the arrangement of a human lever system affect movement?
• Titanium is a good choice for a prosthesis because
• The part of the body that fits into the socket is called the:
• Prosthetic hands and fingers are known as:
• What is a key benefit of using feedback in a biomedical control system?
• Which device is used to measure the oxygen saturation in the blood noninvasively, typically using light absorption?
• Which description most closely aligns with the role of CAD software in design work?
• Why can a larger study sample provide more informative results than a very small sample?
• A device fails after one force exceeds its capacity. How is this failure best classified?
• Why does a single conventional X-ray projection make it difficult to distinguish structures at different depths?
• _______ refers to the physics of what happens when something is subjected to force and motion.
• A surgical stent is made from a mesh material, which allows tissue to grow into the mesh framework.
• How does computed tomography produce a cross-sectional image?
• The outer covering (glove) of a prosthetic hand is commonly made from which material?
• How can incorrect prosthetic-foot alignment affect a user?
• Titanium has a property that makes it suitable for implants.
• In a human limb, what role does a joint play in a lever system?
• Which design choice best reflects human-factors engineering in a medical device?
• Which professional specializes in fitting prosthetic and orthotic devices?
• Do prosthetic limbs generally require more energy to walk with than using a cane, crutches, or a walker?
• When filtering random noise from patient-monitoring data, what design concern is important?
• Which information should a participant receive before voluntarily agreeing to take part in a study?
• Which statement about the socket interface is true?
• Which statement is consistent with CAD being the primary tool in engineering design?
• Engineers who design prosthetic hands studied how many fingers are required to perform most tasks. Which fingers are these?
• A glucose reading is delayed, and the patient's glucose level has since changed. What is the main concern when using that reading to guide insulin delivery?
• What is the typical trade-off when choosing a higher-frequency ultrasound transducer?
• It is impossible for a person with an artificial hand to perform daily tasks like picking up a piece of paper.
• Why may an open-loop system fail to maintain a target when conditions change?
• Engineers who design prosthetic and orthotic devices work in what area?
• Statement: If the kidneys are not functioning, the blood cannot be properly cleaned.
• When designing feedback-controlled insulin delivery, what should the system account for to reduce the risk of excessive or insufficient delivery?
• What is the difference between accuracy and precision in biomedical measurement?
• Why are control groups and consistent conditions useful when evaluating a biomedical intervention?
• Why must researchers protect participants’ personal health information?
• What kind of issue might post-release monitoring detect that limited pre-release testing did not reveal?
• Bioengineering companies design prosthetics and devices that replace systems and parts in the human body.
• In a glucose biosensor, what does the recognition element do?
• What is the primary function of a surgical stent?
• Why should a reusable medical device be designed with cleaning or sterilization in mind?
• How should alarm thresholds and priorities be selected for a patient-monitoring device?
• For patients learning to use two transfemoral prostheses, which scenario requires the most energy to move?
• Which information from walking is especially useful when fitting a lower-limb assistive device?
• New limbs are made from materials that are light, strong, and flexible.
• What is the purpose of making a mold in prosthetics?
• Which combination is generally more robust for reducing assembly errors than relying only on warnings?
• A traditional mold is made using concrete.
• An acute myocardial infarction is a:
• Which term describes tissue that has lost blood supply and is dying?
• A blood clot can block an artery.
• What does a risk-benefit analysis help a biomedical engineering team assess?
• A soldier getting a replacement limb would probably be fitted by:
• Which statement best describes a Professional Engineer (PE)?
• Which statement about modern prosthetics is true?
• What does the term prosthesis refer to?
• A licensed person who measures, designs, fabricates, fits, or services prostheses?
• Which statement best describes how CAD contributes to accuracy?
• What does it mean for a material to exceed its elastic limit?
• Which statement correctly describes licensure for engineers?
• Which describes an infarction?
• Which statement best describes CAD software's role in engineering design?
• An orthotic is a replacement limb.
• Why is a biosensor calibrated before its readings are used?
• The nerves in our body use electricity to send signals through the body.
• Why should a medical device be tested by representative users in addition to its designers?
• Why must an artificial joint be designed for both mechanical loads and repeated motion?
• Which best describes the PE designation relative to licensure?
• Why should a prosthetic limb be fitted to the individual user rather than based only on an average size?
• What is the primary role of the strong magnetic field in MRI?
• An artificial hand cannot function like a real one.
• The skin, or glove of a prosthetic, is made from:
• A prosthetic container for a residual limb or stump?
• Which set of components is commonly found in a biosensor?
• How can traceability help investigators respond to a medical-device safety problem?
• A prosthetic is a brace or other device that supports or protects a part of the body.
• Finding the right materials is one of the most important design issues to consider in developing an effective hip prosthesis.
• Anesthetic is
• Which factors are important when determining whether a material is suitable for an implant?
• In a medical-device design project, what is the main purpose of defining criteria and constraints?
• Which practice best describes informed consent in research involving people?
• Why should an insulin delivery system account for delays in glucose measurements?
• Arteriosclerosis is:
• It's very critical for a prosthetic to fit a patient perfectly.
• Why might a person’s grip strength measurement change when the wrist is repositioned?
• How can human-factors engineering reduce medication or device-use errors?
• What is a key limitation of increasing a study’s sample size?
• A delayed glucose reading is higher than the patient's current level. If a system relies on that outdated reading, what risk could arise?
• A device successfully delivers a medication, but testing reveals a risk of accidental injury during normal use. What should the team conclude?
• What is the primary purpose of an alarm system in a patient-monitoring device?
• When adjusting a lower-limb assistive device, what can gait analysis help identify?
• An orthotic is a device that serves which purpose?
• Engineers who design prosthetic hands concluded that most tasks require which combination of fingers?
• Which statement correctly distinguishes a prosthesis from an orthosis?
• To ensure a good fit for a limb prosthesis, the medical team usually does what?
• How can repeated prototype testing improve a biomedical product?
• If a force’s line of action passes directly through a joint’s axis, what torque does that force produce about the axis?
• What does the term 'myoelectric' specifically refer to?
• Which statement best distinguishes effectiveness from safety when evaluating a medical device?
• Which activity best represents the primary role of a biomedical engineer?
• A treatment device acts without checking whether its action produced the intended outcome. Which description best fits the device?
• An artery is a blood vessel that carries blood back to the heart.
• Why do bones typically appear with strong contrast on an X-ray image compared with many soft tissues?
• Long chains in polyethylene contribute to which property?
• During dialysis, which outcome occurs?
• A medical device can be assembled incorrectly if its parts are fitted in the wrong orientation. Which design approach most directly reduces this risk?
• What happens during the radiofrequency portion of MRI image acquisition?
• A surgical stent:
• What feature distinguishes a closed-loop biomedical control system from an open-loop system?
• A membrane is similar to:
• Which example is an engineering design variable rather than a biological variable?
• Why might a material appropriate for an external brace be inappropriate for a long-term implant?
• Today, artificial limbs are still commonly made from wood with leather straps attached to the body.
• Is it true that younger, fitter patients tend to heal and become independent more readily than older or less fit patients?
• What term is used to describe the residual portion of a limb that fits into a prosthetic socket?
• What can comparing a biosensor’s output with known reference values help identify?
• Which statement correctly distinguishes correlation from causation?
• True or False: Bioengineering companies create prosthetics to replace systems and parts in the human body.
• Why should a medical device continue to be monitored after it enters real-world use?
• Arteriosclerosis is the hardening of the arteries caused by fat deposits on the walls of the arteries.
• Why should instructions for a medical device be tested with intended users before release?
• Which pair correctly identifies a biological variable and an engineering design variable?
• Which of the following statements about licensure is accurate?
• A person who has had a limb amputated is called the
• A sensor produces nearly identical readings each time, but the readings are consistently far from the reference value. How should its performance be described?
• Which statement accurately describes licensure in engineering?
• What does the Professional Engineer (PE) designation represent?
• Which of the following are new materials used in modern prosthetics?
• Why must an insulin delivery system consider how long insulin takes to affect the patient?
• Why is electrical isolation important in equipment connected to a patient?
• A biomedical device measures a patient's response and changes its output based on that measurement. Which type of system is this?
• Which statement about arteries is true?
• Why should a patient-monitoring device distinguish meaningful changes from random noise?
• How does fatigue failure typically occur in a medical device?
• What is the primary role of a prosthetist?
• If the same force is applied at a joint, what happens to the torque when the perpendicular moment arm becomes longer?
• Which statement best describes the material properties desired for prosthetic limbs?
• Which of the following best defines a Professional Engineer?
• Which material is commonly used in modern prosthetic sockets?
• What is the role of a transducer in a biosensor?
• How does an ultrasound system use returning echoes to form an image?
• Prosthetic limb replaces which of the following?
• The field that studies physics of forces and motion on objects is called what?
• Which statement best describes a biodegradable implant material?
• A patient's needs change over time. Which control-system capability is most relevant to responding to those changes?
• What does biocompatibility require of a material used in an implant?
• A manufacturer needs to identify which devices may be affected by a component failure. Which information is most useful?
• Which statement correctly distinguishes an imaging modality from an image-processing method?
• A study finds that two biomedical measurements tend to rise together. What conclusion is justified by this finding alone?
• In a typical design workflow, how is CAD used?
• What is an important purpose of an engineering notebook during device development?
• What function do the kidneys perform related to blood?
• Before concluding that a design change improved a device, what would provide the strongest evidence?
• A prosthetic arm presents different challenges from a prosthetic leg or foot.
• Which statement is supported by the material?
• Why can feedback help a biomedical device maintain a target when conditions change?
• The making and fitting of artificial body parts is called what?
• A device delivers a fixed amount of a treatment and does not measure the patient's response. What type of control system is it using?
• Which sequence best describes closed-loop control?
• A team wants to know whether a new intervention caused an observed improvement rather than changes in other factors. Which approach is most helpful?
• What is a primary responsibility of an institutional review board reviewing human-subject research?
• Which of the following describes what the Professional Engineer (PE) designation represents?
• Myoelectric refers to:
• The oxygen meter measures oxygen in the blood by
• During kidney dialysis, the patient's blood is
• A team is comparing two device designs against a required size limit and a target level of performance. Which interpretation is correct?
• During dialysis, waste material is taken out of the blood and then washed away.
• Which mechanical property allows a material to return to its original shape after a load is removed, provided its elastic limit was not exceeded?
• A blood clot is: A clump of cells that break off and block an artery
• What is the primary role of an orthosis?
• The skin, or glove of a prosthetic comes in colors to match the patient's skin tone.
• Why is a slippery material often chosen for joint replacements?
• Long chains in polyethylene make it a suitable material for products that need to be:
• If a limb needs to be removed surgically, the operation is called?
• A prototype produces inconsistent results across trials. What is the best next step for the team?
• Before selecting a design for a medication container that is difficult for patients to open, what should an engineering team do first?
• When adjusting insulin delivery, why is it important to consider both delayed glucose measurements and delayed insulin effects?