cfaed Seminar Series

Prof. Maaike Op de Beeck , Imec, Belgium

Ultrathin flexible encapsulation technology for electronic implants

24.04.2018 (Tuesday) , 17:00 - 18:30
BIOTEC, seminar rooms E05/E06 , Tatzberg 47-49 , 01307 Dresden

Abstract

Always more electronic devices are used in the medical world. Due to the miniaturization of electronic chips and the development of MEMS, very small microsystems can be fabricated which offer a strong potential for usage inside the human body. Nevertheless, placing a device inside the human body is much more than making a small and smart device: the interaction of implanted material with the body results in dedicated device requirements. The electronic device needs a dedicated hermetic encapsulation which is functioning as a very performant diffusion barrier, to avoid diffusion of toxic materials from the device into the body, as well as to avoid leaching of body fluids inside the implant. Traditionally, a thick and rigid titanium can is used as hermetic encapsulation. But new developments are ongoing to make an extremely thin, soft and flexible encapsulation, by combining biocompatible polymers with high quality ceramic layers being only 10 to 20nm thick... nanotechnology in order to create the electronic implants of the future.

Bio

Maaike Op de Beeck received her electronic engineering degree (1985) and PhD (1993) from the KULeuven, Belgium. She held several research positions at the KU Leuven (Belgium), at Philips (The Netherlands), at Mitsubishi Electric (Japan), and at imec (Belgium). During the first 20 years of her carrier, she was a researcher in the field of IC-CMOS processing, specializing in advanced lithography. From end 2007, Maaike became active in the field of MEMS for biomedical applications. She coordinated research activities regarding microfluidics and chip/device packaging for wearable and implantable medical systems. From June 2012 on, Maaike joined CMST (Centre for Microsystems Technology, an imec associated laboratory at the Gent University, in Belgium) to perform research regarding biomimetic and miniaturized packaging technologies for electronic implants. Since 2016 she is part-time professor at the Gent University.

Go back