(Press-News.org) Tiny sensors and motors are everywhere, telling your smartphone screen to rotate and your camera to focus. Now, a team of researchers at Tel Aviv University has found a way to print biocompatible components for these micro-machines, making them ideal for use in medical devices, like bionic arms.
Microelectromechanical systems, better known as MEMS, are usually produced from silicon. The innovation of the TAU researchers — engineering doctoral candidates Leeya Engel and Jenny Shklovsky under the supervision of Prof. Yosi Shacham-Diamand of the School of Electrical Engineering and Slava Krylov of the School of Mechanical Engineering — is creating a novel micro-printing process that works a highly flexible and non-toxic organic polymer. The resulting MEMS components can be more comfortably and safely used in the human body and they expend less energy.
A two-way street
As their name suggests, MEMS bridge the worlds of electricity and mechanics. They have a variety of applications in consumer electronics, automobiles, and medicine. MEMS sensors, like the accelerometer that orients your smartphone screen vertically or horizontally, gather information from their surroundings by converting movement or chemical signals into electrical signals. MEMS actuators, which may focus your next smartphone's camera, work in the other direction, executing commands by converting electrical signals into movement.
Both types of MEMS depend on micro- and nano-sized components, such as membranes, either to measure or produce the necessary movement.
For years, MEMS membranes, like other MEMS components, were primarily fabricated from silicon using a set of processes borrowed from the semiconductor industry. TAU's new printing process, published in Microelectronic Engineering and presented at the AVS 59th International Symposium in Tampa, FL, yields rubbery, paper-thin membranes made of a particular kind of organic polymer. This material has specific properties that make it attractive for micro- and nano-scale sensors and actuators. More importantly, the polymer membranes are more suitable for implantation in the human body than their silicon counterparts, which partially stems from the fact that they are hundreds of times more flexible than conventional materials.
The unique properties of the polymer membranes have unlocked unprecedented possibilities. Their flexibility could help make MEMS sensors more sensitive and MEMS motors more energy efficient. They could be key to better cameras and smartphones with a longer battery life.
Giving patients a hand
But the printing process may deliver the biggest jolt to the field of medicine, where polymer membranes could be used in devices like diagnostic tests and smart prosthetics. There are already bionic limbs that can respond to stimuli from an amputee's nervous system and the external environment, and prosthetic bladders that regulate urination for people paralyzed below the waist. Switching to MEMS made with the polymer membranes could help make such prosthetics more comfortable, efficient, and safer for use on or inside the body.
"The use of new, soft materials in micro devices stretches both the imagination and the limits of technology," Engel says, "but introducing polymer MEMS to industry can only be realized with the development of printing technologies that allow for low cost mass production." The team's new polymer membranes can already be quickly and inexpensively produced.
The polymer base for the membranes was supplied along with a grant by French chemical producer Arkema/Piezotech. "They just gave us the material and asked us to see what devices we could create with it," Engel reports. "This field is like Legos for grownups."
The next step, she says, is to use the printing process to make functional sensors and actuators almost entirely out of the polymer at the micro- and nano-scales. Such flexible machines could be put to use in things like artificial muscles and screens so flexible that you can roll them up and put them in your pocket.
###
American Friends of Tel Aviv University supports Israel's leading, most comprehensive and most sought-after center of higher learning. Independently ranked 94th among the world's top universities for the impact of its research, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 10 other universities.
Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research and scholarship, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.
Micro-machines for the human body
Tel Aviv University researchers adapt microscopic technology for bionic body parts and other medical devices
2013-08-07
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
UEA research shows moderate exercise could be good for your tendons
2013-08-07
Moderate exercise could be good for keeping your tendons healthy according to new research from the University of East Anglia funded by Arthritis Research UK.
The onset of tendon disease has previously been associated with exercise. However new research published today in the journal Molecular Cell Research shows that doing moderate exercise could help guard against and treat the painful and often debilitating condition.
The research team showed that moving around decreases a group of enzymes (metalloproteinases) that degrade tendon tissue and increase tendon protein.
Tendon ...
Welcome to the new era of University, Inc.
2013-08-07
After years of wariness, universities and industry scientists are forging new partnerships that are reinvigorating academic science departments, preparing students for careers and giving corporations better access to fundamental research. That 21st century alliance is the topic of the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
Rick Mullin, C&EN senior editor, points out that collaborations established during the last several years defy earlier ...
Synthetic polymers enable cheap, efficient, durable alkaline fuel cells
2013-08-07
A new cost-effective polymer membrane can decrease the cost of alkaline batteries and fuel cells by allowing the replacement of expensive platinum catalysts without sacrificing important aspects of performance, according to Penn State researchers.
"We have tried to break this paradigm of tradeoffs in materials (by improving) both the stability and the conductivity of this membrane at the same time, and that is what we were able to do with this unique polymeric materials design," said Michael Hickner, associate professor of materials science and engineering.
In solid-state ...
Treadmill training after spinal cord injury promotes recovery when inflammation is controlled
2013-08-07
COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that treadmill training soon after a spinal cord injury can have long-lasting positive effects on recovery – as long as the training is accompanied by efforts to control inflammation in the lower spinal cord.
The study, in animals, also is among the first to show that spinal cord injuries can create impairments in parts of the cord located many spine segments away from the trauma site.
Researchers observed signs of inflammation in the lumbar region of the spine, at least 10 segments below the mid-back injury, within 24 hours of ...
Endovascular treatment should still be an option for some stroke patients
2013-08-07
Philadelphia, Pa. -- Despite recent discouraging results, endovascular treatment is still a "reasonable" treatment option for selected patients with acute stroke, according to a commentary in the August issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
A special article in the August Neurosurgery suggests that the US supply of neurosurgeons is inadequate to meet the demand, while a new study finds no evidence that obesity causes worse outcomes ...
Scientists create tiny bendy power supply for even smaller portable electronics
2013-08-07
Scientists have created a powerful micro-supercapacitor, just nanometres thick, that could help electronics companies develop mobile phones and cameras that are smaller, lighter and thinner than ever before. The tiny power supply measures less than half a centimetre across and is made from a flexible material, opening up the possibility for wearable electronics.
The research is published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Energy & Environmental Science.
A bottleneck in making portable electronic devices like mobile phones even smaller is reducing the size and ...
Internet search engines drove US librarians to redefine themselves
2013-08-07
EUGENE, Ore. -- (Aug. 7, 2013) – Although librarians adopted Internet technology quickly, they initially dismissed search engines, which duplicated tasks they considered integral to their field. Their eventual embrace of the technology required a reinvention of their occupational identity, according to a study by University of Oregon researchers.
The story of the successful transition -- of accommodating a new technology -- into a new identity is a good example for professionals in other fields who have faced or currently face such challenges, says Andrew J. Nelson, a ...
First hundred thousand years of our universe
2013-08-07
Mystery fans know that the best way to solve a mystery is to revisit the scene where it began and look for clues. To understand the mysteries of our universe, scientists are trying to go back as far they can to the Big Bang. A new analysis of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation data by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has taken the furthest look back through time yet – 100 years to 300,000 years after the Big Bang - and provided tantalizing new hints of clues as to what might have happened.
"We found that the standard picture ...
Tracking Twitter may enhance monitoring of food safety at restaurants
2013-08-07
A new system could tell you how likely it is for you to become ill if you visit a particular restaurant by 'listening' to the tweets from other restaurant patrons.
The University of Rochester researchers say their system, nEmesis, can help people make more informed decisions, and it also has the potential to complement traditional public health methods for monitoring food safety, such as restaurant inspections. For example, it could enable what they call "adaptive inspections," inspections guided in part by the real-time information that nEmesis provides.
The system combines ...
CD4 count is non-inferior to viral load for treatment switching in adults with HIV
2013-08-07
For adults infected with HIV in Thailand a monitoring strategy based on CD4 count (a type of white blood cell) is non-inferior to the recommended monitoring strategy measuring the amount of HIV virus in a patient's blood, to determine when to switch from first-line to more costly second-line antiretroviral treatment according to a clinical trial published this week in PLOS Medicine.
The study was conducted by an international team of researchers led by Marc Lallemant from Chiang Mai University, Thailand and the Harvard School of Public Health, United States and provides ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Breakthrough study reveals bumetanide treatment restores early social communication in fragile X syndrome mouse model
Neuroscience leader reveals oxytocin's crucial role beyond the 'love hormone' label
Twelve questions to ask your doctor for better brain health in the new year
Microelectronics Science Research Centers to lead charge on next-generation designs and prototypes
Study identifies genetic cause for yellow nail syndrome
New drug to prevent migraine may start working right away
Good news for people with MS: COVID-19 infection not tied to worsening symptoms
Department of Energy announces $179 million for Microelectronics Science Research Centers
Human-related activities continue to threaten global climate and productivity
Public shows greater acceptance of RSV vaccine as vaccine hesitancy appears to have plateaued
Unraveling the power and influence of language
Gene editing tool reduces Alzheimer’s plaque precursor in mice
TNF inhibitors prevent complications in kids with Crohn's disease, recommended as first-line therapies
Twisted Edison: Bright, elliptically polarized incandescent light
Structural cell protein also directly regulates gene transcription
Breaking boundaries: Researchers isolate quantum coherence in classical light systems
Brain map clarifies neuronal connectivity behind motor function
Researchers find compromised indoor air in homes following Marshall Fire
Months after Colorado's Marshall Fire, residents of surviving homes reported health symptoms, poor air quality
Identification of chemical constituents and blood-absorbed components of Shenqi Fuzheng extract based on UPLC-triple-TOF/MS technology
'Glass fences' hinder Japanese female faculty in international research, study finds
Vector winds forecast by numerical weather prediction models still in need of optimization
New research identifies key cellular mechanism driving Alzheimer’s disease
Trends in buprenorphine dispensing among adolescents and young adults in the US
Emergency department physicians vary widely in their likelihood of hospitalizing a patient, even within the same facility
Firearm and motor vehicle pediatric deaths— intersections of age, sex, race, and ethnicity
Association of state cannabis legalization with cannabis use disorder and cannabis poisoning
Gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, and eclampsia and future neurological disorders
Adoption of “hospital-at-home” programs remains concentrated among larger, urban, not-for-profit and academic hospitals
Unlocking the mysteries of the human gut
[Press-News.org] Micro-machines for the human bodyTel Aviv University researchers adapt microscopic technology for bionic body parts and other medical devices