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They may look and act like natural human cell membranes but the synthetic cell membranes invented by A*STAR's IMRE have more advantages. IMRE's patented synthetic cell membranes can be made-to-order, are easier to maintain in a laboratory environment and do not require the lengthy preparation that comes with working on live cell membranes. The synthetic cell membranes mimic the natural functions of cell membranes, such as interacting with drug molecules and antibodies, which is crucial in the drug discovery process. The innovation also provides a more stable membrane model for a better understanding of the mechanisms of diseases that affect human cells.
Dr. Greg Galvin is a successful veteran of the MEMS industry. His first company was sold in 2000 to Calient Networks, an optical MEMS switching company in San Jose. The transaction at the time was valued at ~$300 million in cash and stock. Dr. Galvin's second company, Kionix, focuses on the design and fabrication of MEMS inertial sensing devices and was acquired in 2009 by ROHM Co., Ltd. for $233.5 million. Now, Dr. Galvin has launched his third company, Rheonix, that concentrates on molecular diagnostics applications enabled by microfluidic technologies. In this extensive interview, Dr. Galvin discusses opportunities in the molecular diagnostics market, current cost trends and technology developments, and shares the vision for his new company.
Valencell, a startup company based in North Carolina that is focused on mobile health and fitness technologies, announced this week that that it has received $5.5 million in venture capital funding. The round was led by Best Buy Capital, the investment group of Best Buy, with participation from previous investors TDF and True Ventures. Valencell is the creator of powered earbuds which give audio headsets the ability to monitor the health and fitness of the user. The company's sensor technology tracks real-time physiological metrics including heart rate, calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled, speed and more, while the consumer listens to music, talks over the phone, or goes about daily life activities. Data is streamed to smartphones or music players through wired or wireless links, enabling live body metrics, training, and coaching via fitness applications on mobile devices and online.
Automotive safety systems are found in a growing number of vehicles, and shipments of MEMS devices that are crucial to their operation are increasing even faster. According to ABI Research, nearly 100 million airbag, tire pressure monitoring, and electronic stability control (ESC) safety systems that use MEMS devices shipped worldwide during 2010. These systems contained more than 300 million MEMS chips. In 2016, approximately 150 million systems are expected to be installed in vehicles, but the number of MEMS devices they contain are projected to rocket to over 830 million units.
Retinal disease, or degeneration of the retinal cells, is exemplified by genetically caused retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (MD). These are leading causes of blindness affecting an estimated 1-3 million and 25-30 million people worldwide, respectively. As MD progresses, the tissue of the macula is destroyed leading to a complete loss of vision in the center. In the case of RP, early symptoms include night blindness, loss of contrast and steadily diminishing peripheral vision. Both can be traced to degenerating light-sensitive rods and cones in the retina.
RUSNANO announced this week that it will be co-investing in the development of MEMS components for use in sensors, computing and telecommunications equipment. SiTime, a US based startup company that focuses on MEMS oscillators and silicon timing solutions, is going to be partnering with RUSNANO in this initiative. The project has a total budget of $22 million of which RUSNANO will finance up to $15 million. The resources will be directed toward expanding SiTime's research base, broadening the geography of its sales, and establishing a development center in Russia.
X-FAB Silicon Foundries this week added ready-to-use design IP blocks for acceleration sensors to its MEMS foundry service offerings. Developed in cooperation with MicroMountains Applications and HSG-IMIT, the new IP blocks can be incorporated into customer designs of MEMS capacitive accelerometers covering 2G, 10G and 100G ranges. The company says that the MEMS accelerometer IP design blocks further shorten design times and reduce customer learning cycles for new product introduction. Running on X-FAB's inertial sensor fabrication process, the IP blocks are aimed to give customers faster development times for volume manufacture of gyroscope and accelerometer designs.
