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

该PFI：AIR技术翻译项目的重点是通过硅谷微电子行业使用的标准半导体加工技术翻译原子级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对低成本刀片的需求。该项目将实现超锋利半导体和陶瓷切割工具的高吞吐量制造，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，这在金属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经历氧化，并且由于微碎裂、生锈和毛刺形成而随着时间的推移变得钝。在白内障手术中，一次性刀片是理想的。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（每个刀片约50美元），来自一系列制造过程。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并行刀片制造工艺，从单个晶片生产数千个相同的刀片，具有原子级的锋利度和超长的耐用性，成本仅为现有同类产品的一小部分。此外，可以使用成熟的微/纳米制造技术来微调和控制这种刀片的切割刃轮廓、锐度、尺寸和角度。该项目开发的刀片技术可以大大降低一次性眼科手术刀片的成本，并通过集成传感器提供更好的剃须体验，用于皮肤和头发状况监测。通过微加工工艺实现的原子级锋利度将在打破脱毛刀片市场饱和的现状方面发挥关键作用。该项目将对硅和陶瓷进行微加工，以制造具有原子级锋利切削刃的微脊。与使用苛刻的化学品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制造工艺。这种刀片的商业化将取决于解决本项目将解决的几个技术差距。这些包括（a）基于厚硅和陶瓷晶片的湿法和干法蚀刻的组合沿着具有严格控制的成分、厚度和硬度的保形薄膜涂覆工艺的高产量制造协议的开发，（B）制造设备设计空间和产量几何窗口的建立，（c）开发早期原型，将手柄与刀片结合起来，并以成本效益高的方式进行包装;（d）进行机械和操纵稳定性的实验室测试;（e）开发大规模生产的工艺。半导体和陶瓷具有无锈、生物相容性更好、可微加工等优点，高度成熟、廉价、绿色的微纳米纤维技术使其在叶片制造中的应用成为可能。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接受该项目沉浸式跨学科性质的教育，独特地为他们提供技术翻译培训，以解决工程市场中的重要问题并在今天取得成功？竞争激烈的企业家精神和工业环境。该项目聘请了加州大学戴维斯分校管理研究生院的合作PI，以指导从研究发现到商业现实的技术翻译工作。

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.