The vantage point, published.
The full MEMS Journal archive — 40 articles across two decades of sensors, MEMS, and microtechnology.
Medical MEMS: SQZ Biotech raises $65 million to develop cell therapies
SQZ Biotechnologies (SQZ), a clinical stage cell therapy company developing innovative treatments for multiple therapeutic areas, announced this week the completion of a $65 million Series D preferred stock financing. The round was led by Temasek with participation from another new large, US-based fund as well as…
Sensera's MEMS devices mimic human organs through bioengineering
Sensera is adapting its MEMS technology for new applications in bioengineering . The company's MEMS technology is now being used at Harvard University for the creation of microfluidic devices which mimic the functions of living human organs, including the lung, intestine, kidney, skin, bone marrow and blood-brain…
Medical MEMS: Biolinq raises $10 million for painless blood glucose sensors
Biolinq announced this week the close of a $10 million Series A financing led by M Ventures , in collaboration with Hikma Ventures . Biolinq is a digital health company with a unique, wirelessly-enabled biosensor patch that is capable of continuously monitoring multiple biomarkers . Grey Sky Venture Partners, Three…
Tronics opens MEMS production facility for healthcare applications
Tronics, a TDK Group company that designs and manufactures nano and microsystems, has announced the opening of a MEMS production facility located in Addison, Texas , near Dallas. The fab expands Tronics' MEMS development and manufacturing capabilities in North America . Tronics aims to utilize the full control of…
Tronics rides the medical MEMS wave
According to our research, the MEMS market for medical applications is currently approximately $2.1 billion , and is projected to grow at double digit rates for the next decade . Since MEMS based motion sensors for consumer applications are rapidly getting commoditized , medical MEMS may represent the most…
BioMEMS: navigating the medical device FDA approval process
by David DiPaola Managing Director, DiPaola Consulting With major advances in MEMS and nanotechnology and their proliferation into medicine , it is important to have a working knowledge of the critical steps in obtaining U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for commercialization. An understanding of the…
ISSYS receives $1.5 million grant for the development of MEMS based pediatric cardiac implants
Integrated Sensing Systems, Inc. (ISSYS) and the University of Michigan announced that they have received a $1.5 million National Institute of Health ( NIH ) grant titled "Novel Micro-Implant To Measure Intracardiac Pressure In Congenital Heart Patients." Dr. Martin Bocks , a pediatric cardiologist at the…
MEMS and microelectrode technologies for hearing restoration
by John Williamson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal Two common types of hearing loss suffered by millions of people worldwide are sensorineural hearing loss and conductive hearing loss. The former is caused primarily by damage to the cochlea , the snail-shell like structure of the inner ear containing…
Bio-Rad acquires QuantaLife's microfluidic technology for $162 million
Bio-Rad Laboratories , a manufacturer and distributor of life science research and clinical diagnostics products, announced this week that it has acquired QuantaLife , a microfluidic technology startup, for $162 million in cash plus potential future milestone payments. QuantaLife raised $17.2 million in venture…
PerkinElmer to acquire microfluidics company Caliper for $600 million
PerkinElmer , a global biomedical company, announced this week that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Caliper Life Sciences , a Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based firm that specializes in microfluidic technologies for life sciences research, diagnostics and environmental markets, for a total net purchase…
Firefly BioWorks receives $2 million NIH grant for cancer diagnostics
Firefly BioWorks , a manufacturer of cancer diagnostic assays based on microfluidics , announced this week that it was awarded a $2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute for microRNA profiling. MicroRNAs are an emerging class of biomarkers that are proving to be important indicators for early diagnosis…
Micro cell membranes for faster and cheaper drug development
They may look and act like natural human cell membranes but the synthetic cell membranes invented by A*STAR's IMRE have more advantages. IMRE's patented synthetic cell membranes can be made-to-order, are easier to maintain in a laboratory environment and do not require the lengthy preparation that comes with…
Molecular diagnostics and microfluidics: market overview and opportunities
Dr. Greg Galvin is a successful veteran of the MEMS industry. His first company was sold in 2000 to Calient Networks , an optical MEMS switching company in San Jose. The transaction at the time was valued at ~$300 million in cash and stock. Dr. Galvin's second company, Kionix , focuses on the design and fabrication…
Valencell raises $5.5 million for health and fitness monitoring applications
Valencell , a startup company based in North Carolina that is focused on mobile health and fitness technologies, announced this week that that it has received $5.5 million in venture capital funding. The round was led by Best Buy Capital , the investment group of Best Buy, with participation from previous investors…
Overview of MEMS technologies for retina applications
by John Williamson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal Retinal disease , or degeneration of the retinal cells, is exemplified by genetically caused retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (MD). These are leading causes of blindness affecting an estimated 1-3 million and 25-30 million…
MEMS and body area networks
A European consortium lead by Swiss based CSEM successfully launched the European Commission funded WiserBAN project , with the objective of developing innovative ultra-miniature RF microsystems for wireless body area networks (BAN) targeting primarily wearable and implanted devices for healthcare, biomedical ,…
Agilent acquires two microfluidic technology companies
The company announced this week that it has acquired BIOCIUS Life Sciences , developer of a high-throughput mass spectrometry drug-screening platform for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical markets, as well as Lab901 , an electrophoresis equipment and consumables company. Both companies' technologies utilize…
Health and medical market strategies for MEMS companies
by Paul Pyzowski Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal As an executive and entrepreneur who transitioned from the semiconductor industry to life sciences, I am often asked about "medical MEMS" by other executives, engineers, and investors seeking new markets for an existing MEMS or microfabrication technology.…
Samplify Systems developing ultrasound solutions, recruits MEMS expert
Samplify Systems , a provider of semiconductor technology and sub-systems for the ultrasound equipment market, announced this week that Dr. Chris Daft has joined the company as Senior Scientist, where he will apply his MEMS expertise to develop the company's ultrasound beamforming technology and products. "Dr. Daft…
ST, Bluechiip to partner on manufacturing of MEMS RFID tags
STMicroelectronics , a leading supplier of MEMS devices for consumer and portable applications, and Bluechiip , an early-stage company that has developed a MEMS based asset tracking solution, announced this week that the two companies will cooperate in further commercialization of Bluechiip's MEMS based tracking…
Rheonix developing microfluidic diagnostic platform
The company is developing the system to provide multiplexed endpoint analysis for diagnostic applications . Rheonix uses its patented device to manipulate samples as diverse as blood, saliva, mucosal swabs and environmental sources, and sample sizes from 10 microliters to 2-3 milliliters for integrated processing…
Micronics receives $2.6 million to develop microfluidics based blood diagnostic tool
Micronics, a development stage company that specializes in microfluidics , announced this week that the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded it an Applied Research and Technology Development Award under the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command’s Polytrauma and Blast Injury Project for the advancement…
Microfluidics for crime scene investigation
by Paul Pyzowski , Guest Contributor The television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation became one of the most watched shows of the past decade by updating the police procedural genre with cutting edge forensic science. Although it has tried to keep its forensic science technically accurate, the demands of sixty…
MEMS applications for treatment of nervous system disorders
by Paul Pyzowski , Guest Contributor I had recently written an article here on the use of MEMS in neuroscience research applications , and Colin Johnson penned a separate article on how MEMS are enabling systems to restore sight for the blind . This article focuses on the increasing use of MEMS for treating…