Polymer-MEMS technology for biomedicine and communication

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Microfabrication technology, started as an investigation into creating miniature electronic circuits in early 1950's has now created a new paradigm in interdisciplinary research and development. This is quite evident from the numerous electronic gadgets that pervade human society, ranging from portable personal music systems to implantable health aids such as pacemakers and defibrillators. Despite tremendous growth in integrated electronics, the realm of analysis, particularly in the area of clinical sciences, still belongs to bulky instruments and centralized laboratories. MEMS technology and its offshoots, such as microfluidics, are shrinking the laboratory onto a single chip, popularly termed Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology. Currently, LOC primarily uses glass substrates, which makes the technologies expensive and not readily compatible with electronic integration. With the increased availability of photo-patternable polymers, a new area of MEMS has emerged, namely the polymer-MEMS technology. Polymer-MEMS technology offers a unique blend of new materials as well as the potential to combine MEMS sensors, actuators, optical components, microfluidic primitives and thin-film electronic components. Polymers also offer excellent biocompatibility, making polymers an ideal choice for miniature clinical diagnostic systems.