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| May 1, 2008 | |
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Not exactly Pharoah size: 30 micrometer five-sided pyramid |
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Robert Perkins
(213) 740-9226 |
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Researchers at the USC Information Sciences Institute have
demonstrated a way to manufacture miniscule containers
that might be used to deliver precise micro- or even nano-
quantities of drugs.
The Voxel team - consisting of Will, professor of chemistry
Bruce Koel (who has since gone to Lehigh University),
former post-doctoral researcher Alejandro Bugacov and
former grad student (now graduate) Rob Gagler folded a
number of different shapes, including four- and five-sided
pyramids, pentagonal 'lotus' shapes, and also simple square
plates that folded over each other to make flat mini-
envelopes.
Will (right) has been pursuing the idea of creating voxels for
many years, "way back to my days in HP labs, when I was
working in Medical and Chemical applications." The USC
team designed the chips using MEMSPRO CAD software; the
actual chip fabrication was done in France.
"The experimental work was done on campus," said Will,
"since ISI doesn't have a wet lab."
The National Science Foundation supported the research,
under an exploratory research grant. The paper is "Voxels:
volume-enclosing microstructures," J. Micromech. Microeng.
18 (2008) 055025.
Below: additional images and schematics:
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