The Benefits of Being Thin: How Ultrathin Silicon Membranes are Enabling New Technologies for Discovery in Biomedical Research
James L McGrath,
,
University Of Rochester
A decade-and-a-half after we first used silicon microfabrication to
create free-standing ultrathin nanoporous membranes, the materials are
being utilized by a growing number of laboratories as uniquely capable
tools for biomedical research. Today we manufacture a variety of
silicon-based nanoporous and microporous membranes with the common
characteristics that they are ultrathin (15 nm - 300 nm) with
well-defined pore sizes. The extremes thinness of 'nanomembranes' makes
them orders-of-magnitude more permeable to both diffusing molecules and
pressurized flow than conventional membranes. The ultrathin nature of
the membranes also gives them a glass-like imaging quality in optical
microscopy. These properties provide abundant opportunities for novel
membrane-based devices and assays. This talk will provide an overview of
two leading applications of our nanomembranes. First is their use to
create in vitro models of human tissue (i.e. 'tissue chips' or
'microphysiological systems' where they provide optically transparent
and highly permeable scaffolds to compartmentalize tissues including the
brain neurovascular unit, the blood-retinal-barrier, bone, and tendon.
The second application I will cover is the use of as tool for diagnostic
applications. Here we have leveraged our understanding of filtration to
develop a digital assay of extracellular vesicle biomarkers and
pressure-based sensor that detects virus in a point-of-care microdevice.
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