14
R. Garcia-Ramirez and S. Hosseini
development of home care devices and hand-held analytical systems, followed by
in-vitro diagnosis and biological and pharmaceutical research (Cooper 2016). Lower
tendencies but important research fields are focused on disease-prediction devices to
prevent fatal diseases including cancer, HIV, etc. (Experts 2019).
BioMEMS can be classified into two general groups based on their applications
(Cima 2011): firstly, those created for biomedical purposes including inertial sensors
or implants, and, secondly, those that embed microelectronics and micromachining
techniques in order to acquire, sense, or manipulate biological or chemical entities
(Folch 2016; Ramesham 2000).
1.2.2 First Attempts in Design and Fabrication of BioMEMS
BioMEMS devices related to biological entities most likely evolved from the need to
analyze single cells in-vitro since previous techniques were mostly invasive, which
resulted in damage to the cell and the inability to maintain long term connections
(Thomas et al. 1972). For this reason, an effort to embed electrodes in the culture
platform gave rise to the first microelectromechanical systems used in pair with
biological agents. These first attempts date back to the late 1960s (Carter 1963) and
continued to be replicated and improved until reliable results positioned MEMS as
a viable technology for chronic non-invasive single cell studies (Regehr et al. 1988).
In October 1967 in England, Stephen Carter from the Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., was the first scientist to report a BioMEMS in his publication related to
cell studies, where he described surfaces with patterned cellular adhesiveness using
microtechnology. Carter coined the cell behavior term “haptotaxis” in 1965, when
he used a method to create cellular patterns of mouse fibroblast onto palladium as
mask (Regehr et al. 1988). He used a wire in contact with the acetate substrate that
had created a smooth metallic gradient on the acetate, resulting in substrate-directed
cell motion. Carter then repeated the shadow-evaporation technique in 1967 where
the wire was a perforated 15 µm thick nickel stencil mask made by photochemical
machining (Carter 1963). Additional information regarding the fabrication strategy
of these devices are presented in Table 1.1. In his experiment, the prediction and
the feasible fabrication of massively parallel single-cell assays was introduced for
studying single-cell spreading confined into adhesive islands. This latter publication has marked the first report in the history of BioMEMS (Folch 2016; Saliterman
2006).
The first micro systems embedded in larger systems were developed in the disciplines of neuroscience and neurobiology (Urban 2007). In the first decades of the
twentieth century, single glass sensors were used to measure physiological parameters on the surface of human tissues (Bates 1963). The miniaturization of these
devices offered a wider comprehension of brain functions, information processing,
and tissue abnormalities (Council 1998; Bashir 2004).
R. Garcia-Ramirez and S. Hosseini
development of home care devices and hand-held analytical systems, followed by
in-vitro diagnosis and biological and pharmaceutical research (Cooper 2016). Lower
tendencies but important research fields are focused on disease-prediction devices to
prevent fatal diseases including cancer, HIV, etc. (Experts 2019).
BioMEMS can be classified into two general groups based on their applications
(Cima 2011): firstly, those created for biomedical purposes including inertial sensors
or implants, and, secondly, those that embed microelectronics and micromachining
techniques in order to acquire, sense, or manipulate biological or chemical entities
(Folch 2016; Ramesham 2000).
1.2.2 First Attempts in Design and Fabrication of BioMEMS
BioMEMS devices related to biological entities most likely evolved from the need to
analyze single cells in-vitro since previous techniques were mostly invasive, which
resulted in damage to the cell and the inability to maintain long term connections
(Thomas et al. 1972). For this reason, an effort to embed electrodes in the culture
platform gave rise to the first microelectromechanical systems used in pair with
biological agents. These first attempts date back to the late 1960s (Carter 1963) and
continued to be replicated and improved until reliable results positioned MEMS as
a viable technology for chronic non-invasive single cell studies (Regehr et al. 1988).
In October 1967 in England, Stephen Carter from the Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., was the first scientist to report a BioMEMS in his publication related to
cell studies, where he described surfaces with patterned cellular adhesiveness using
microtechnology. Carter coined the cell behavior term “haptotaxis” in 1965, when
he used a method to create cellular patterns of mouse fibroblast onto palladium as
mask (Regehr et al. 1988). He used a wire in contact with the acetate substrate that
had created a smooth metallic gradient on the acetate, resulting in substrate-directed
cell motion. Carter then repeated the shadow-evaporation technique in 1967 where
the wire was a perforated 15 µm thick nickel stencil mask made by photochemical
machining (Carter 1963). Additional information regarding the fabrication strategy
of these devices are presented in Table 1.1. In his experiment, the prediction and
the feasible fabrication of massively parallel single-cell assays was introduced for
studying single-cell spreading confined into adhesive islands. This latter publication has marked the first report in the history of BioMEMS (Folch 2016; Saliterman
2006).
The first micro systems embedded in larger systems were developed in the disciplines of neuroscience and neurobiology (Urban 2007). In the first decades of the
twentieth century, single glass sensors were used to measure physiological parameters on the surface of human tissues (Bates 1963). The miniaturization of these
devices offered a wider comprehension of brain functions, information processing,
and tissue abnormalities (Council 1998; Bashir 2004).