David Savastano, Editor07.17.13
The combination of biomedical science with printed electronics holds great promise. At the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), an internationally recognized leader in biomedical sciences and biosensors, a team of researchers and post-graduate students are collaborating on the latest advances in the field.
Prof. Tony Killard, professor of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Applied Sciences at UWE Bristol and adjunct professor at the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute at Dublin City University, is researching ways to combine the biomedical and printed electronics fields, developing printed biosensors that are drawing the attention of the respective industries.
“Our main area of interest is electrochemical sensors and their application to diagnostics,” Prof. Killard said. “We saw the massive potential that printed electronics could have on this area of technology and the levels of integration that could be achieved. We saw a lot of the activity in printed electronics as being focused on a small number of relatively simple devices such as OLEDS, lighting, touch switches and so on, and we thought that it had the potential to be used much more extensively in biomedical diagnostics. Nobody was really looking at this seriously at the time.”
UWE Bristol conducts a range of biomedical research, some of which is focused on the development of printed sensors and biosensors, which are ideal for developing novel diagnostic platforms.
“Our research spans everything from fundamental materials science into the creation of novel functional nanomaterials, which are processable through print production processing, through to their integration into actual working devices,” Prof. Killard noted. “We are analytical scientists and so it is important for us to rigorously demonstrate their analytical performance, before bringing them into the clinic and testing real patients.”
UWE Bristol has earned a world-class reputation in the field of biomedical sciences.
“UWE Bristol's Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences has a broad set of strengths across the biomedical sciences in what you could describe as a 'bench to bedside' capability,” Prof. Killard noted. “We have fundamental research going on into diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders and cancer, the identification of novel biomarkers of these diseases, the development of diagnostics to detect and measure such markers, through to their implementation in the health care system.”
With this in mind, UWE Bristol has established state-of-the-art facilities, including screen and inkjet printing systems, to develop its printed biosensors.
“We now have some excellent facilities, including clean rooms for performing screen printing of both solvent-based materials and printing biologicals, as well as inkjet printing systems and polymer microfabrication capability,” Prof. Killard said. “We also have a range of measurement equipment including electrochemical instrumentation (including impedance spectroscopy), electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and scanning electrochemical microscopy. We are able to fabricate complex, integrated diagnostic microdevices based on combinations of printed sensor materials, biological materials and polymer MEMS microfluidics.”
UWE Bristol has had a number of successes in the biosensor field. Most recently, the university received the OE-A’s 2013 Demonstrator Award for Best Publicly Funded Project Demonstrator for its Printed Biosensor for Quantitative Diagnostics, a printed biosensor complete with a printed battery and electrochromic display.
“The SIMS device stands for 'Smart Integrated Miniaturised Sensor,' and fully integrates a printed biosensor with electrochromic display and printed battery,” said Prof. Killard. “Through leadership in the SIMS project, we have been the first to demonstrate the complex fabrication and functional integration of printed electronics systems to achieve quantitative diagnostic testing. We are now also finalizing full integration with an organic electronic circuit. This will result in a monolithic, fully integrated and autonomous diagnostic device using organic and printed electronics.”
Prof. Killard said that the potential for printed electronics to change our everyday lives is tremendous.
“Printed electronics will bring about a revolution in how and where technology is used in our everyday lives,” Prof. Killard said. “What will be significant is how it will allow technology to be embedded into our day-to-day existence that, while enhancing our life experience, may go largely unnoticed by the user. The most powerful technologies are those that transform our lives without us really being aware of the nature of the technology. Printed electronics has this potential.”
“Our main area of interest is electrochemical sensors and their application to diagnostics,” Prof. Killard said. “We saw the massive potential that printed electronics could have on this area of technology and the levels of integration that could be achieved. We saw a lot of the activity in printed electronics as being focused on a small number of relatively simple devices such as OLEDS, lighting, touch switches and so on, and we thought that it had the potential to be used much more extensively in biomedical diagnostics. Nobody was really looking at this seriously at the time.”
UWE Bristol conducts a range of biomedical research, some of which is focused on the development of printed sensors and biosensors, which are ideal for developing novel diagnostic platforms.
“Our research spans everything from fundamental materials science into the creation of novel functional nanomaterials, which are processable through print production processing, through to their integration into actual working devices,” Prof. Killard noted. “We are analytical scientists and so it is important for us to rigorously demonstrate their analytical performance, before bringing them into the clinic and testing real patients.”
UWE Bristol has earned a world-class reputation in the field of biomedical sciences.
“UWE Bristol's Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences has a broad set of strengths across the biomedical sciences in what you could describe as a 'bench to bedside' capability,” Prof. Killard noted. “We have fundamental research going on into diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders and cancer, the identification of novel biomarkers of these diseases, the development of diagnostics to detect and measure such markers, through to their implementation in the health care system.”
With this in mind, UWE Bristol has established state-of-the-art facilities, including screen and inkjet printing systems, to develop its printed biosensors.
“We now have some excellent facilities, including clean rooms for performing screen printing of both solvent-based materials and printing biologicals, as well as inkjet printing systems and polymer microfabrication capability,” Prof. Killard said. “We also have a range of measurement equipment including electrochemical instrumentation (including impedance spectroscopy), electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and scanning electrochemical microscopy. We are able to fabricate complex, integrated diagnostic microdevices based on combinations of printed sensor materials, biological materials and polymer MEMS microfluidics.”
UWE Bristol has had a number of successes in the biosensor field. Most recently, the university received the OE-A’s 2013 Demonstrator Award for Best Publicly Funded Project Demonstrator for its Printed Biosensor for Quantitative Diagnostics, a printed biosensor complete with a printed battery and electrochromic display.
“The SIMS device stands for 'Smart Integrated Miniaturised Sensor,' and fully integrates a printed biosensor with electrochromic display and printed battery,” said Prof. Killard. “Through leadership in the SIMS project, we have been the first to demonstrate the complex fabrication and functional integration of printed electronics systems to achieve quantitative diagnostic testing. We are now also finalizing full integration with an organic electronic circuit. This will result in a monolithic, fully integrated and autonomous diagnostic device using organic and printed electronics.”
Prof. Killard said that the potential for printed electronics to change our everyday lives is tremendous.
“Printed electronics will bring about a revolution in how and where technology is used in our everyday lives,” Prof. Killard said. “What will be significant is how it will allow technology to be embedded into our day-to-day existence that, while enhancing our life experience, may go largely unnoticed by the user. The most powerful technologies are those that transform our lives without us really being aware of the nature of the technology. Printed electronics has this potential.”