Life Sciences Manufacturing

Life Sciences applications, whether related to diagnosis or treatment, often require combinations of electronics, biology and chemistry that are simply not seen in other industries. Due to its ability to handle electronic and biomaterials within the same deposition system, Aerosol Jet systems offer a unique biomedical micro-device development and production solution that bridges these disciplines.

Biocompatible Electronics

Microelectronics are pervasive in the health care industry, spanning diagnostics, pharmacology, surgery and prosthetics. The electronics can be the active element or they may merely serve as the connection to a device. Hearing aids and Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) products such as pacemakers and defibrillators are common examples that demonstrate the demand for smaller, less invasive devices. The ability of Aerosol Jet systems to reduce the overall size of an electronic system, combined with their support of biocompatible electronic materials, achieves this goal.

Diagnostics

Biosensors are analytical devices that incorporate biological materials as the functional element, which when exposed to a certain stimulus trigger an electronic signal. Aerosol Jet systems have proven adept at the deposition of ultra-thin biomaterial and insulating layers for multilayer biosensor devices.

Drug Discovery

Aerosol Jet systems are applicable to the production of the micro-arrays used in the search for new drugs based on combinatorial chemistry, especially as the industry is moving towards "bio-chips" that contain not only target wells, but also the electronic logic for conducting ultra high throughput screening.

Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering involves the controlled fabrication of structures incorporating living and non-living biomaterials, as well as structural materials (e.g., metals, polymers). The major approaches to manufacturing include a variety of ex-vivo and in-vivo techniques, all of which are costly and time-consuming. The Aerosol Jet system is a flexible development and production tool, having already demonstrated the capability of depositing viable cells and biomaterials, and to further integrate growth factors and scaffold support structures.