Micro-systems in biomedical applications

In this paper we analyse the main characteristics of some micro-devices which have been developed recently for biomedical applications. Among the many biomedical micro-systems proposed in the literature or already on the market, we have selected a few which, in our opinion, represent particularly well the technical problems to be solved, the research topics to be addressed and the opportunities offered by micro-system technology (MST) in the biomedical field. For this review we have identified four important areas of application of micro-systems in medicine and biology: (1) diagnostics; (2) drug delivery; (3) neural prosthetics and tissue engineering; and (4) minimally invasive surgery. We conclude that MST has the potential to play a major role in the development of new medical instrumentation and to have a considerable industrial impact in this field. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version; see www.iop.org)