BioMEMS for medicine: On-chip cell characterization and implantable microelectrodes

This paper surveys a few of the emerging bioMEMS technologies at EPFL for improved, inexpensive health care. The lab-on-a-chip systems use dielectrophoretic forces to direct cell movement within microfluidic networks and impedance spectroscopy for label-free in-flow characterization of living cells. The implantable microelectrodes for neural applications are based on thin-film polymer foils with embedded microelectrodes for both recording and stimulation. Applications for these biomedical microdevices will include stem cell research, cancer cell characterization, drug discovery, treatments for neurological disorders, and neuroprosthetic devices.