FEATURE MEMS
A micro scanning mirror from Fraunhofer IPMS can oscillate in more than one plane. The gimbal suspension allows the laser beam to be deflected in any direction
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this case, because we wanted a reliable device that was already fully tested,’ Liu explained. ‘It would have been possible to do something new, and work with a collaborator to develop something with capabilities that aren’t available commercially. But that’s a trade-off – we wanted to build a device that we could get into the clinic.’ Mass production was also a factor to consider, as the University would not be able to produce the MEMS component in high volumes, according to Liu: ‘In our research lab, to scale up into a larger scale of manufacturing mode would be challenging. But these companies have mechanisms to produce large quantities of the mirror.’
And, this MEMS component was a central part of the design. ‘We designed our microscope around [the company’s] mirror. It was easier for us to design all the parts of our microscope, and to have them machined so that they could fit with the mirror which was already fabricated,’ Liu added. ‘The MEMS mirror is the most complicated part – it is the brain and the engine of the microscope.’ Another partnership that is combining the expertise in MEMS technology of one company with the mass production capabilities of another is that of Swiss company Lemoptix, which specialises in compact laser scanning systems and Japanese optoelectronics supplier Hamamatsu Photonics. The two companies are
24 ELECTRO OPTICS l MARCH 2014
developing and commercialising devices based on MOEMS technology.
‘Lemoptix has been working in this field for
more than 10 years and had already established the [MEMS] technology. Hamamatsu had the expertise and capabilities to scale it to volume production,’ said Craige Palmer, general sales manager at Hamamatsu Photonics UK. ‘Hamamatsu has taken that technology, industrialised it, and made it compatible with our own manufacturing facilities located in Hamamatsu City, Japan. We have scaled the
technology up to volume production, required for emerging huge markets.’ According to Palmer, there is enormous potential for MOEMS devices in the medical industry: ‘The point about MOEMS devices is that you can make things smaller. In the medical market, the instruments used to be bulky or desktop. But now you can make mirrors smaller and lighter weight, so it’s possible to make portable versions of these instruments.’ Hamamatsu anticipates that the miniaturisation enabled by MEMS technology will give rise to the development of medical testing devices that patients will be able to use at home. ‘You will be able to tell what the problem is, without having to go to the hospital for a blood or urine test. So it is benefiting the consumer now,’ Palmer commented. ‘Whereas before, where Hamamatsu was selling to system integrators that developed products for hospitals, we can now envisage that kind of technology being brought into the home.’ Although MEMS scanning mirrors are becoming a mature technology, Dr Liu feels that in the biomedical field, until devices with MEMS mirrors are used as a standard of care in the clinic, the technology will not become mainstream: ‘The technologies are there, but we just need to find the right application that fully utilises these MEMS mirrors, and shows that the MEMS mirrors are the most ideal technology.’
Liu concluded: ‘Until we can demonstrate an ideal application that improves patient outcomes, it will be sort of a niche field – there will be a few groups utilising MEMS mirrors as part of their devices, but it’s not going to be a mainstream technology. That’s what we [at Stony Brook] are working towards.’ l
Set-up of the microscope developed at Stony Brook University. The laser beam is transmitted via an optical fibre and is deflected by the MEMS mirror into the tissue
@electrooptics |
www.electrooptics.com
Fraunhofer IPMS
Stony Brook University
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