Biotechnology for Health (Biomedical Innovations)

Unit 3: Problem 3: Designing a Medical InnovationBI 3.1Biomedical Innovation: validation & evidence

Conduct a literature review

Search, screen, and summarize what experts already published before you design a new device.

Builds on (2 levels back)inferred · high confidence

Credible vs. non-credible sources: A literature review only counts sources you can trust, so you must first judge which sources are reliable.
Summarize in your own words: A review restates each source's main finding; you need to be able to summarize without copying.

Prerequisites are inferred: pending teacher review.

Re-learn the skill with worked practice and clear examples.

A literature review is a planned search of trustworthy, published sources, where you summarize each one's key finding and cite it.

Step 1: Plan the search

Write a focused question (for example, 'What designs reduce pressure sores in wheelchairs?') and choose good places to search, such as databases of peer-reviewed articles.

Step 2: Screen the results

Keep sources that are authored, dated, and ideally peer-reviewed; drop ads and anonymous posts. Peer review means experts checked the study before it was published.

Step 3: Summarize and cite

For each kept source, write one or two sentences stating its main finding in your own words, and add a citation so a reader can find the original.

Practice

What is the MAIN purpose of a literature review at the start of a design project?

Approved

A.To prove your idea is better than everyone else's
B.To find out what is already known so you do not repeat work and can build on it
C.To collect as many web links as possible
D.To copy a finished design you can submit

Show the worked solution ▾

Answer: B. To find out what is already known so you do not repeat work and can build on it

Step 1: Recall the goal: A review surveys existing trustworthy work on your problem.
Step 2: Match to the choices: Knowing what is already done lets you avoid repeating it and lets you build on it, which is the purpose.

Why it's right: A literature review surveys what is already known so you avoid repeating work and can build on prior findings.

Why the others miss:

A: A review gathers and summarizes evidence; it is not a contest to declare yourself best.
C: The goal is trustworthy, relevant sources, not a large pile of links.
D: Copying a finished design is plagiarism and is not the purpose of a review.

Aligned to BI 3.1: purpose of a literature review · reading level ~grade 9

Where you'd see this

A design team writes a one-page summary of five peer-reviewed articles, each with a citation, before sketching their first prototype.

Careers that use this

Clinical Researcher: Summarizes published trials in a review so a new study does not duplicate work that already has an answer.

Video library

Watch: Conduct a literature review

How to Write a Literature Review: 3 Minute Step-by-step Guide | Scribbr 🎓

Scribbr · ~3 min

Guided notes

Fill these in as you work through the lesson.

Big idea: A literature review is an organized summary of what reliable, already-published research has found about your problem, so you do not repeat work that is already done.

Key terms: write the meaning

Literature review (a survey of existing published work):
Peer review (experts check a study before it is published):
Primary source (the people who did the study report it):
Citation (the credit line that says where a fact came from):

The rule

A study that was checked by other experts before being published has gone through , which makes it more trustworthy than a random .

Check yourself

Why look at what others published before you start designing your own device?
Give one feature that makes a source more trustworthy for a review.
What is the difference between summarizing a study and copying it?

Work one example

You found three articles about a knee brace. For each, write one sentence that states the main finding in your own words, then add a citation. Explain how you decided each source was trustworthy.