APPLICATION OF MEMS IN

SURGERY

SUBMITTED BY
SUCHITH SOMAN.T
EPAHEECO55
GOVT.ENGG COLLEGE
SREEKRISHNAPURAM
• What is MEMS?
• MEMS Fabrication
• MEMS Devices
• Advantages
• Future Scope
 WHAT IS MEMS ?

• MEMS is the acronym for Micro Electro

Mechanical Systems
• It is a technique of combining Electrical
and Mechanical components together on a
chip, to produce a system of miniature
dimensions.
• Especially actuators and sensors.
 MEMS FABRICATION
• Micro-electro discharge machining
• Laser Micro Machining
• Stereo Lithography
 MICRO ELECTRO DISCHARGE
MACHINING
• To shape conductive materials
• Controlled electronic discharge
• Dielectric fluid for :
. Removal of erosion particles
. Keeping substrate material from
oxidising
 Classification of biological MEMS
devices
Biomedical MEMS – deals “in vivo”, within the host
body.
• precision surgery
• Drug delivery
• Biosensors and other physical sensors

Biotechnology MEMS – deals “in vitro”, with the

biological samples obtained from the host body.
• gene sequencing
• Drug discover
• pathogen detection
MEMS and Precision
Surgery
 Micro-surgical tools
• Present day surgeons operate within a do-
main restricted by the mobility and control 
of the surgical tools at hand.
• MEMS surgical tools provide the flexibility
and accuracy to perform precision 
surgery.
 MEMS driven scalpels
• Precise control of the scalpel is an
important requirement in any surgery.
• MEMS piezoelectric motor help to
accurately position the scalpel.
• MEMS pressure sensors incorporated on
the scalpel, can help to measure the force
exerted on the area operated upon.
Accordingly, the scalpel can he handled.
MEMS Driven Scalpel
 MEMS AND ENDOSCOPY
• What is endoscopy ?
• A diagnostic procedure which involves the
introduction of a flexible device into the lower
or upper gastrointestinal tract for diagnostic or
therapeutic purposes.
• Conventional endoscopes
• Can be used to view only the first third of the
small intestine.
• Require sedation of patient
• Is an uncomfortable procedure
MEMS redefines endoscopy with
“Lab on a Pill”
Size : 35mm
Components of lab on a pill
• Digital camera (CMOS Technology)
• Light source
• Battery
• Radio transmitter
• Sensors (MEMS Technology)

 Requires no sedation
 Can show a view of the entire small intestine
 Can aid in early detection of colon cancer
 THE MEMS PILL

INTERNAL STRUCTURE
 Working of this MEMS pill
• The pill is intended to be swallowed like any
normal pill.
• Once within the body, the pill's sensors sample
body fluids and pick up "meaningful patient data"
such as temperature, dissolved oxygen levels
and pH.
• The pill is expected to retrieve all data over a 12-
hour period and disposed off, once excreted.
• This data is transmitted wirelessly to a card
attached to the wrist of the individual.
MEMS and Drug
Delivery
 MEMS Micro-needles
• MEMS enables hundreds of hollow micro-
needles to be fabricated on a single patch of
area, say a square centimeter.
• This patch is applied to the skin and drug is
delivered to the body using micro-pumps.
• These micro-pumps can be electronically
controlled to allow specific amounts of the drug
and also deliver them at specific intervals.
• Micro-needles are too small to reach and
stimulate the nerve endings, and hence cause
no pain to the body.
MICRO-NEEDLE
PATCH
 Smart Pill
• A MEMS device that can be implanted in the
human body.
• Consists of
– biosensors
– Battery
– Control circuitry
– Drug reservoirs
• The biosensors sense the substance to be
measured, say insulin.
• Once this quantity falls below a certain amount
required by the body, the pill releases the drug.
 MEMS
BIO-SENSORS
 Biological Sensors

Device that integrates a biological component
with an electronic component to yield a
measurable signal.

Biosensors, which come in a large variety of
sizes and shapes, are used to monitor changes
in environmental conditions.

They can measure acidity levels (pH), analytes
and pressure in blood.
 TYPES OF BIO-SENSORS
• Pressure Sensors
• Temperature Sensors
• UltraSound Sensors
Challenges for MEMS medical
sensors
• Biocompatibility remains the biggest hurdle for
MEMS medical devices.
• Life of the device.
• Retrieving data out of the device.
• Resist drifting along with the body fluids.
 ADVANTAGES OF MEMS
• Small volume of reagent samples (like blood),
required for analysis.
• Low power consumption, hence lasts longer on the
same battery.
• Less invasive, hence less painful.
• Integration permits a large number of systems to be
built on a single chip.
• Batch processing can lower costs significantly.
• Existing IC technology can be used to make these
devices.
• Silicon, used in most MEMS devices, interferes
lesser with body tissues.
 CONCLUSION
• In the next five years we will begin to see the
proliferation of MEMS technology into surgery
• As surgical MEMS technology becomes more
mature and established, we will see the
integration of multiple sensors on surgical tools.
• The result will be smart surgical tools which will
communicate with the surgeon, even turning
themselves off or resisting the surgeon’s
movements if they sense danger to the patient.
 REFERENCE
[1] K.J. Rebello, “Applications of MEMS in Surgery”,. Proceedings
of the IEEE, Vol.92, No.1, Jan., 2006.

[2] P. Dario, A. Menciassi, C. Stefanini, and D. Accoto,

“Miniaturization of biomedical micromachines,” in Proc. 2nd
Annu. Int. IEEE-EMBS Special Topic Conf. Microtechnology
Medicine and Biology, 2002, pp. 291–296.

[3] D. Polla, A. Erdman, D. Peichel, R. Rizq, Y. Gao, and D.

Markus, “Precision micromotor for surgery,” in Proc. 1st Annu.
Int. IEEE-EMBS Special Topics Conf. Microtechnologies
Medicine and Biology, 2000, pp. 180–183.

[4] A. Menciassi, G. Scalari, A. Eisinberg, C.

Anticoli,P.Francabandiera, M. C. Carrozza, and P. Dario, “An
instrumented probe for mechanical characterization of soft
tissues,” Biomed. Microdevices, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 149–156, 2001
THANK YOU