Smart Material Transducers and Applications to In Vivo Microsystems

具有嵌入式传感器和致动器的微系统，或微型机电系统(MEMS)，已经开发出更多的功能，能够以微创的方式治疗和监测体内的病变。然而，它们在生物环境中应用的主要障碍包括平面形式导致它们与三维组织的相互作用不有效，与其设计复杂性相关的脆弱性，以及生物兼容性问题，导致设备的性能或故障严重受阻。基于MEMS的植入物在许多情况下仍然太大，包括血管应用。此外，无线操作对于植入式微系统是必不可少的。应对这些挑战需要突破性的方法。*为了将MEMS的医疗潜力变为现实，该研究计划将探索利用非传统材料和工艺的新途径，以高度小型化、生物兼容性和坚固/可靠的形式开发微型换能器及其封装的3D微系统。特别是，我们将研究在微/纳米尺度上构图的刺激响应型智能材料如何成为设计和构建体内靶向换能器和设备的有效途径。这种方法由自响应设计带来的好处是，设备可以被配置为同时实现1)通过嵌入式换能器实现的主动/感知“智能”功能，2)极其简化的设计架构的终极小型化，以及3)高稳健性和可靠性。*这项研究的短期目标是研究和开发通过使用智能材料和结构实现的微型换能器，用于生物医学和无线实施。此外，为了验证这些新型换能器的有效性和实用性，我们将把它们应用于研究和制作创新的体内微系统，包括药物输送智能支架和3D观看显微内窥镜，这些系统将推进心血管疾病和癌症等局部疾病的靶向治疗和诊断。为此，这项研究还将研究新的微/纳米制造工艺，这些工艺将作为其生产的关键使能技术。*从长远来看，我们的目标是提供开创性的智能微设备技术和产品，这些技术和产品将塑造微创医学的未来，并使加拿大和世界各地能够更有效地提供医疗服务。我们还预计，这项研究的新发现和成功结果将在医疗设备的特定范围之外的其他领域开创新的应用，同时广泛地为微系统、纳米技术和应用物理学的进一步发展做出贡献。

Microsystems with embedded sensors and actuators, or micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), have developed increased functionalities that could allow the treatment and monitoring of lesions inside the body in a minimally invasive manner. However, significant barriers to their use in biological environment include their ineffective interaction with three dimensional (3D) tissues caused by their planar forms, fragility associated with their design complexity, and biocompatibility issues, leading to severely hindered performance or malfunctions of the devices. MEMS-based implants are still too large in many cases including vascular applications. Moreover, wireless operation is essential for implantable microsystems. Addressing these challenges require breakthrough approaches.***Toward bringing the medical potential of MEMS into reality, this research program will pursue novel paths that leverage non-traditional materials and processes to develop micro transducers and their packaged 3D microsystems in highly miniaturized, biocompatible, and robust/reliable forms. In particular, we will investigate how stimuli-responsive, smart materials, patterned in the micro/nano scales, could be an effective path to designing and constructing target in vivo transducers and devices. The benefit of this approach, brought by self-responsive designs, is that a device could be configured to simultaneously achieve 1) active/perceptive “smart” functionality enabled with embedded transducers, 2) ultimate miniaturization with extremely simplified design architectures, and 3) high robustness and reliability.***The short-term objective of this research is to study and develop miniaturized transducers realized via the use of smart materials and structures for biomedical and wireless implementations. Furthermore, in order to verify the effectiveness and practicality of these novel transducers, we will apply them to study and prototype innovative in vivo microsystems including drug-delivery smart stents and 3D-viewing microendoscopes that will advance targeted therapy and diagnosis of localized disease such as cardiovascular disease and cancers. To this end, this research will also investigate novel micro/nanofabrication processes that will serve as a key enabling technology for their production. ***In the long term, we aim this research to offer ground-breaking technologies and products of intelligent microdevices that will shape the future of minimally invasive medicine and enable more effective healthcare delivery in Canada and worldwide. We also envision that the new findings and successful outcomes from this research will pioneer new applications in other areas beyond the particular scope in medical devices, while broadly contributing to further advances in microsystems, nanotechnology and applied physics.**