A Biobed is a Hospital bed that includes medical sensors and display units for diagnosis and gas and fluid connect points for treatment of patients. The primary biobed, typically located in the center of a starship sickbay, is equipped with an additional overhead sensor cluster and a containment field generator and serves for surgical and other intensive-care procedures. It could also administer intravenous medication.

A series of biofunction sensors were built into the beds, and could provide a wealth of information on the patient's condition.  Basic information, such as the patient's temperature, blood pressure, and respiration quality was constantly displayed on a unit at the bed's head.  Other, more detailed information could be accessed by tying the bed's sensors into a variety of remote medical instruments, such as the tricorder.

In normal conditions, a central biobed was used for surgery, whereas the standard biobeds around the edges of the room were used for recovery.  In order to make long stays in these beds more comfortable, they were designed with a tilting headrest.