PFI:AIR - TT: Micro and Nanofabricated Semiconductor and Ceramic Blade Arrays for Surgical and Hair Removal Applications

这个PFI: AIR技术翻译项目的重点是通过硅谷微电子工业使用的标准半导体加工技术来翻译原子锋利的一次性手术刀片。该技术将满足白内障手术、组织切割和脱毛应用中对低成本刀片的需求。该项目将实现高通量制造超锋利的半导体和陶瓷刀具，并具有相关的安全特性，以及各种电气、光学和机械传感器的潜在集成，这在金属基刀片平台上是不可能的。在外科手术或脱毛应用中使用的传统金属刀片经历氧化，并随着时间的推移变得钝，由于微切屑，生锈和毛刺的形成。在白内障手术中，一次性刀片是可取的。然而，大多数国家的外科医生在几个病人身上重复使用它们，因为它们的成本很高（每片约50美元），这是由连续制造过程产生的。这种做法可能导致危及患者安全的风险。该项目将导致大规模平行叶片制造工艺，从单个晶圆上生产数千个相同的叶片，具有原子级的锐度和超长的耐用性，而成本只是现有同类产品的一小部分。此外，这种刀片的刃口轮廓、锐度、尺寸和角度可以使用成熟的微/纳米制造技术进行微调和控制。该项目开发的刀片技术可以显著降低一次性眼科手术刀片的成本，并通过集成的皮肤和头发状况监测传感器改善剃须体验。通过微加工工艺实现的原子锐度将在打破饱和的脱毛刀片市场现状方面发挥关键作用。该项目将对硅和陶瓷进行微加工，以制造具有原子锋利切削刃的微脊。与目前使用苛刻化学物质制造刀片的顺序抛光工艺不同，该项目将开发和采用半导体行业常用的大规模并行微加工工艺。这种叶片的商业化将取决于该项目将解决的几个技术差距。这些包括(a)基于厚硅和陶瓷晶圆湿法和干法蚀刻的高通量制造方案的开发，以及严格控制成分、厚度和硬度的保形薄膜涂层工艺，(b)建立制造设备设计空间和产量几何窗口，(c)通过将手柄集成到刀片并经济有效地包装它们来开发早期原型。(d)进行机械和操纵稳定性的实验室测试，以及(e)为大规模生产开发工艺。半导体和陶瓷具有防锈、生物相容性强、可微加工的特点，其在叶片制造中的应用是由高度成熟、廉价和绿色的微纳米制造技术实现的。加州大学戴维斯分校（UC Davis）的研究生和博士后研究员将有机会在这个项目的沉浸式跨学科性质中接受教育，为他们提供技术翻译方面的独特培训，以解决工程市场中的重要问题，并在今天取得成功。竞争激烈的创业和产业环境。该项目聘请了加州大学戴维斯分校管理研究生院的一位共同负责人，指导这项技术从研究发现到商业现实的转化工作。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating atomically sharp disposable surgical blades through standard semiconductor processing techniques used by the microelectronics industries in Silicon Valley. The technology will address the need for low cost blades used in cataract surgery, tissue cutting and hair removal applications. The project will enable high-throughput manufacturing of ultra-sharp semiconductor and ceramic based cutting tools with associated safety features and potential integration of a variety of electrical, optical and mechanical sensors that are not possible in metal based blade platforms. Conventional metal blades used in surgical or hair removal applications experience oxidation and become blunt over time due to micro-chipping, rusting and burr formation. In cataract surgery, a single-use blade is desirable. However, surgeons in most countries re-use them on several patients due to their high cost (around US$50 per blade) emanating from a serial manufacturing process. Such practice may lead to a risk of compromising patient safety. This project will result in massively parallel blade manufacturing processes to produce several thousand identical blades from a single wafer with atomic level sharpness and ultra-long durability at a fraction of the cost of their existing counterparts. Further, the cutting edge profile, sharpness, size and angles of such blades can be fine-tuned and controlled using matured micro/nano-fabrication techniques. Blade technologies developed in this project could dramatically reduce the cost of disposable ophthalmic surgical blades and offer improved shaving experience with integrated sensors for skin and hair condition monitoring. Atomic sharpness achieved via micro-fabrication processes will play a key role in breaking the status quo in the saturated hair removal blades market.This project will pursue micromachining of silicon and ceramics to fabricate micro-ridges with atomically sharp cutting edges. Unlike the sequential polishing process using harsh chemicals for the fabrication of current blades, this project will develop and employ a massively parallel microfabrication process commonly used by the semiconductor industry. Commercialization of such blades will depend on addressing several technology gaps that this project will address. These include the (a) development of high-throughput fabrication protocol based on a combination of wet and dry etching of thick silicon and ceramic wafers along with conformal thin film coating processes with tightly controlled composition, thickness and hardness, (b) establishment of manufacturing device design space and yield geometrical window, (c) development of an early stage prototype by integrating handles to blades and packaging them cost-effectively, (d) conducting lab tests for mechanical and maneuvering stability, and (e) process development for large-scale production. Semiconductor and ceramics are rust-free, more biocompatible, micro-machinable and their applications in blade fabrication are enabled by highly matured, inexpensive and green micro-nanofabrication technology. A graduate student and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) will have the opportunity to be educated in the immersive transdisciplinary nature of this project, uniquely preparing them with training in technology translation to solve important problems in the engineering marketplace and succeed in today?s highly competitive entrepreneurship and industrial environments. The project engages a Co-PI from Graduate School of Management of UC Davis to guide this technology translation effort from research discovery toward commercial reality.