|
|
MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
EECS Event |
Thursday, May 10, 2001
1:00 PM (refreshments 12:45)
RLE Conference Room, Room 36-428
Abstract
Artificial implants have been used for decades as intervention when a natural system in the body has failed. Today, medical implants with entirely new capabilities are becoming possible due to technological advances in computing, sensing, and mechanical and fluidic manipulation at the microscale.
Applications being studied include monitoring and governing body chemistry and even restoring sight to the blind. MEMS technology is a key enabler for such devices. This talk will discuss the development of technologies for an ocular implant that senses and regulates fluid pressure in the eye for the treatment of glaucoma. Other possibilities for MEMS smart implants will also be explored.
For the glaucoma implant, polymer materials are desirable for biocompatibility and low-cost, however, micromachining technology is much less developed for polymers than for silicon. Parylene polymers can be deposited as conformal thin-films and thus lend themselves to the adaptation of silicon microfabrication techniques such as three-dimensional molding. This technique is being developed towards the fabrication of bistable valves to control fluid flow out of the eye. Other key techologies required for the implant are the assembly and packaging of dissimilar subsystems in an economical and biocompatible manner, as well as communication and power delivery through body tissue.