Applications of micromachined devices to malaria and cancer detection

Of the many micromachined diagnostic devices currently being developed, suspended microchannel resonator technology seems unique in that is not a scaling down of an existing technique and does not require labeling of the target cell. This technology has the potential to become an important diagnostic tool of diseases that cause a change in the mechanical properties of cells in blood. Malaria and cancer are good examples of this type of disease and both could benefit from more effective testing methods. For this to be accomplished, complementary technologies like filtration and microfluidic interconnects will also have to be developed. However, substantial funding will be required for this development. The cancer market appears to be the most favorable by an order of magnitude in terms of funding. There are many business strategies to take advantage of this technology. Each has its own set of risks and possible gains.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Hardin, James O. (James Otey)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Subra Suresh.

• Materials Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37382

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37382