White Paper

Device fabrication for life sciences & biomedical applications: Microfluidics components fabrication

Author

Dr Ravi Sundaram
Head of Strategic R&D Markets, Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology

Semiconductor technology is becoming increasingly important in global healthcare enabling novel understanding, discovery and treatment of disease to make healthcare more affordable and efficient, both in and out of the clinic.

With the global healthcare industry being valued at US $1.65 trillion in 2016 and expected to reach US $2.69 trillion by 2025. It is an important and growing industry. Key drivers behind this ongoing market growth are growing and aging populations, over urbanization, rising disease prevalence all of which are putting further strain on our healthcare systems which are already grappling with issues relating to access, quality, and cost. Convergence of technology from the seemingly disparate fields of semiconductor device processing, life sciences are fast revolutionizing healthcare and medical research by enabling quick and accurate diagnosis. This in turn is increasing the speed and efficiency of treatment for various conditions as well as biomedical research and development.

Biomedical device processing

Biomedical devices are a class of miniaturized electronic devices that are assembled by integration of microfluidics, active sensors/transducers and the supporting signal processing electronics. In this white paper we overview the various processing challenges and solutions for fabrication of microfluidics and active elements of these devices.