BioMEMS Conference at LCCC Explored Promising Markets for Use of MEMS Technologies
Biomedical applications appear to be one of the most promising markets for the use of MEMS technologies and these possibilities were explored during the first Biomedical MEMS and Sensors 2012 conference on Wednesday, March 21 and Thursday, March 22 at Lorain County Community College’s Spitzer Conference Center.
“In BioMEMS applications, it is advantageous to miniaturize currently available components and systems due to form, factor and cost considerations. Furthermore, many applications are newly enabled by MEMS technologies and would not be possible at all without miniaturization,” said Mike Pinelis, Ph.D., and president and CEO of MEMS Investor Journal.
MEMS Investor Journal and the Richard Desich SMART Commercialization Center for Microsystems at LCCC sponsored the two-day conference.
The biomedical MEMS market size is currently approximately $1.7 billion and is projected to at least double in size by 2015.
The scope of biomedical MEMS applications includes sensors, diagnostics and health screening, individualized treatment, drug delivery systems, tissue engineering and organ prosthesis, R&D tools, as well as surgery and minimally invasive procedures.
Some of the main presenters at the conference included:
• Dr. Gregory Galvin, Chairman and CEO of Rheonix, who discussed how molecular diagnostics can be made easy and practical through MEMS technology.
• Dr. Peter Gilgunn discussed how “MEMS technology is coming to a neuron near you” through neural interfaces enabled by MEMS and microelectrodes.
• Dr. Daniel Irimia, assistant professor in Surgery and Bioengineering at the Harvard Medical School, who discussed cellular motility in health and disease.
The BioMEMS 2012 event also included exciting talks by Paul Rubel on micropump technologies and applications, Dr. Nena Golubovic on MEMS and nano hybrid systems for topical and transdermal delivery of drugs, Dr. Saju Nettikadan on advances in tip based lithography for BioMEMS applications, and Louis Ross on MEMS and sensors for sports applications.
Additionally, the event included commercialization and venture capital panels.
“The future for BioMEMS is bright – emerging technologies will bring many innovative products to the market and biomedical device makers need to capitalize on these opportunities,” Pinelis said.
For more information on MEMS technology, contact Matt Appanius, director of the SMART Commercialization Center for Microsystems, at 440-366-4257 or at matt.apanius@smartmicrosystems.com; or Mike Pinellas, president MEMS Investor Journal, at 734-277-3599 or at mikepinellas@earthlink.net.