A new system for the treatment of retinal degeneration.

Recent clinical studies indicate that stimulation of the retina with tiny amounts of current can have a therapeutic effect on retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa. We have therefore developed a preventive treatment system which stimulates the eye with a thread electrode; among other objectives, the aim is that even blind patients can administer the therapy themselves under physician's supervision.

Integration of a surface acoustic wave biosensor in a microfluidic polymer chip.

SAW devices based on horizontally polarized surface shear waves (HPSSW) enable label-free, sensitive and cost-effective detection of biomolecules in real time. It is known that small sampling volumes with low inner surface areas and minimal mechanical stress arising from sealing elements of miniaturized sampling chambers are important in this field. Here, we present a new approach to integrate SAW devices with sampling chamber. The sensor device is encapsulated within a polymer chip containing fluid channel and contact points for fluidic and electric connections. The chip volume is only 0.9 microl. The polymeric encapsulation was performed tailor-made by Rapid Micro Product Development 3Dimensional Chip-Size-Packaging (RMPD 3D-CSP), a 3D photopolymerisation process. The polymer housing serves as tight and durable package for HPSSW biosensors and allows the use of the complete chips as disposables. Preliminary experiments with these microfluidic chips are shown to characterise the performance for their future applications as generic bioanalytical micro devices.