Microdevices in Medicine

Abstract

The application of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) to medicine is described. Three types of biomedical devices are considered, including diagnostic microsystems, surgical microsystems, and therapeutic microsystems. The opportunities of MEMS miniaturization in these emerging disciplines are considered, with emphasis placed on the importance of the technology in providing a better outcome for the patient and a lower overall health care cost. Several case examples in each of these areas are described. Key aspects of MEMS technology as it is applied to these three areas are described, along with some of the fabrication challenges.

Implantable microchip: the futuristic controlled drug delivery system

“…To overcome these precincts, one of the most sophisticated methods, microfabrication technology for MEMS has been implemented for drug delivery systems (Polla et al, 2000;Webb, 2004;Sharma et al, 2006) which is the same processing techniques used to make microprocessors for computer microchips (Santini et al, 2000b). MEMS technology has been used to create reservoirs on silicon chips that can be filled with drug, reservoir seals can be added to protect and contain the drug, and device circuitry can be designed and programmed to open seals on individual reservoirs and release drug on command (Staples, 2010).…”

“…At present, controlled drug delivery technology is one of the most rapidly advancing areas of science for human health care (Langer, 1990) which are intelligent enough to respond to the behavior of the surrounding physiological environment (Razzacki et al, 2004). Many chronic medical conditions require taking specific drugs at specific dose levels on a regular/periodic basis (Polla et al, 2000) but patients often overlook, are unwilling, or are unable to take their medication during long time using of medications (Santini et al, 1998;Kuo & Violante, 2012). Due to the improving the limits of conventional drug administration, a variety of devices for controlled drug delivery have been developed in last few years.…”

Micromachined Flow Sensors in Biomedical Applications

“…The particle speed can be expressed as a function of the frequency fluctuations (f r ) of the scattered intensity and of the distance between two contiguous fringes (γ) as follows: (6) being θ the angle between the two beams. Some works were carried out to realize compact laser Doppler-based instruments [75].…”

“…In fact, some medical fields, ranging over a wide variety of applications in surgical, diagnostic devices and therapeutic areas, are involved in the continuous expansion of micromachined devices [6]. The vast majority of MEMS implemented in biomedical applications are sensors for monitoring many physical parameters such as pressure, acceleration, and fluid flow among others.…”

Use of Microfluidic Technology for Cell Separation

“…These devices can be manufactured with a reproducible accuracy of less than 1 micrometer (1/100 th the diameter of a human hair). In the last decade, microchips have been used in a huge range of devices and contexts: microscale sensors for surgical instruments, monitoring of physiological activities, drug discovery and delivery, DNA amplification, and electrophoresis, as well as cell sorting, the application discussed in this chapter [11][12][13][14][15][16].…”