Medical Device Link . Implementing MEMS Technology in Today's Medical Electronics

Improvements in the design, manufacture, and packaging of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are lowering the costs and increasing the capabilities of these tiny devices. MEMS have been an important and growing part of the medical industry since the 1980s. The microstructures are well suited for medical applications that require very small and reliable sensors. The emphasis on developing portable devices for care in settings outside the hospital has made MEMS sensors ever more attractive. Probably the most important development spurring the growth of the MEMS sensor industry has been the decreasing cost and increasing computing power of microprocessors. In medical sensing, most sensing needs are already known but may not be adequately met because of limitations in the computing technology required to make necessary calculations. Typically, microprocessors are first improved to address more sophisticated sensing needs, and then new sensors are developed to supply input to the microprocessors. Silicon microvalves regulate pressure on vessels containing fluids. Manufacturers are meeting the increasing demand with better and less costly sensors all the time. Improvements in integrated circuit and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, which made the combination of electronic elements and mechanical structures in silicon and hybrid materials possible in the first place, have led to significant reductions in MEMS manufacturing costs. Manufacturers have invested billions of dollars in developing silicon-processing technology to produce low-cost integrated circuits. Applying the resulting technological improvements to sensors has allowed the industry to decrease silicon sensor-element costs in much the same way that it has decreased IC prices. Sensing elements are now typically produced in a wafer fabrication facility and processed in batches of 250­15,000 sensors, depending on size and complexity. MEMS sensors can also be produced for medical products with higher accuracy and reliability than ever before. Currently available micromachining equipment allows dimensional control for precise structures and the