Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 12.1
Overview of micro-manufacturing technologies for biodevices
• Micro-replication technologies. Aimed at the fabrication of large series of parts,
normally using polymers, due to their plasticity, microstructured by hot emboss-
ing, stamping, or microinjection molding.
• Thin-fi lm deposition technologies. Allow the deposition of micrometric poly-
meric, metallic, or ceramic fi lms by means of chemical-vapor deposition, physi-
cal vapor deposition, sol-gel processes, electrospinning, spin and dip coating,
and even self-assembly. Applications are normally aimed at providing special
properties to a biodevice (biocidal properties, enhanced biocompatibility, etc.) or
as support for subsequent chemical micromachining processes.
• Additive micro-manufacturing. Uses similar principles as the additive manufac-
turing technologies discussed in Chap.
10
, but with a higher precision due to the
use of special materials and machines.
12.2
Overview of Applications for the Biomedical Sector
A search carried out with the help of Thomson Reuters
“Web of Knowledge”
resources in June 2012, using “microsystem” and “biomedical engineering” as
search topics, provided 51 indexed documents of interest. Alternative topics such
as “MEMS (microelectromechanical systems),” “micro-devices,” “medicine,”
'
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