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

这个PFI：空气技术翻译项目专注于通过硅谷微电子行业使用的标准半导体加工技术来翻译原子锋利的一次性外科刀片。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。该项目将实现超锋利半导体和陶瓷刀具的高通量制造，具有相关的安全功能，并可能集成各种电气、光学和机械传感器，这在基于金属的刀片平台中是不可能的。用于外科手术或脱毛应用的传统金属刀片会经历氧化，随着时间的推移会因微屑、生锈和毛刺的形成而变得钝化。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患者身上重复使用它们，因为它们的成本很高(每个刀片大约50美元)，这是由一系列制造工艺产生的。这种做法可能会导致危及患者安全的风险。该项目将导致大规模平行的叶片制造工艺，从一个原子级锐度和超长耐用性的单一晶片生产数千个相同的叶片，而成本仅为现有同类产品的一小部分。此外，这种刀片的刃口轮廓、锐度、大小和角度可以通过成熟的微/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极大地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提供更好的剃须体验。通过微制造工艺获得的原子锐度将在打破饱和脱毛刀片市场现状的过程中发挥关键作用。该项目将继续对硅和陶瓷进行微加工，以制造具有原子锐利刃口的微脊。与使用苛刻化学物质制造当前叶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。这类刀片的商业化将取决于解决该项目将解决的几个技术差距。这些措施包括(A)开发基于湿法和干法腐蚀厚硅和陶瓷晶片以及成分、厚度和硬度受到严格控制的共形薄膜涂层工艺的高通量制造协议，(B)建立制造设备设计空间和屈服几何窗口，(C)通过将手柄集成到叶片并以经济高效的方式封装来开发早期原型，(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。半导体和陶瓷材料具有不生锈、生物相容性好、可微加工等特点，其在叶片制造中的应用得益于高度成熟、廉价和绿色的微纳米加工技术。加州大学戴维斯分校(UC Davis)的一名研究生和博士后研究员将有机会接受该项目的身临其境的跨学科性质的教育，为他们提供独特的技术翻译培训，以解决工程市场中的重要问题，并在当今竞争激烈的创业和工业环境中取得成功？S。该项目聘请了加州大学戴维斯分校管理研究生院的一名合作者来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.