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FRAUNHOFER IPMS

DEVELOPS HIGH-DENSITY

CHIPLET AT WAFER LEVEL MED-TECH UPDATE

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Quasi-monolithic integration is envisaged to be ideal New implantable Device to improve Outcomes for expected, reliably producing singlet oxygen on demand
Microsystems have developed a technique that for applications such as highly integrated system-on- Bladder Cancer and confirming the potential for the system to be used
allows different chip components to be to be fused chip solutions for artificial intelligence systems and as an implantable device to support photodynamic
Engineers and scientists at the University of Glasgow
almost seamlessly into a single unit. By precisely high-bandwidth smart transceivers. therapy.
have developed an implantable device which is hoped
embedding small chiplets into specially structured
Dr. Lukas Lorenz, Group Leader at Fraunhofer IPMS, to improve outcomes for bladder cancer patients by Dr. Rolan Mansour of the James Watt School of
silicon pockets the team successfully combined
states: maximising the effectiveness of light-sensitive drugs. Engineering at the University of Glasgow states:
the advantages of a compact single chip with the
flexibility of modular systems for the first time. “ The basis of QMI is silicon wafers with structural Wirelessly powered micro-LEDs are used to enhance the “ Today bladder cancers cause 16 deaths a day in the
This achievement demonstrates the feasibility of recesses, or pockets. For the first time, dummy delivery of light through tissue-mimicking models in the UK alone according to figures from Cancer Research
quasi-monolithic integration and bridges the gap chiplets have been inserted into these pocket lab. UK. However, bladder cancer, like many others, is
between traditional chip packaging and cutting- wafers and the surface has been levelled with a potentially curable if it is diagnosed and treated
The principle deployed is that of photodynamic therapy,
edge semiconductor manufacturing. The aim is to passivation layer in preparation for subsequent early, before metastatic spread or invasion into other
integrate various chip components, such as control back-end-of-line wiring. This creates a nearly which uses light-sensitive drugs called photosensitisers organs. Given that photodynamic therapy has the
electronics, sensors and micromechanical systems monolithic system architecture that combines the to selectively destroy cancer cells. It is commonly used potential for less side effects and could improve
(MEMS) at the wafer level, whilst at the same time highest integration density with modular scalability. in the treatment of skin cancer, but its effectiveness is cancer treatment outcomes, our work is focused on
currently constrained by the physical properties of body
retaining the benefits of a compact single chip. improving the effectiveness of delivering light where
Although the current demonstrator is based on
tissues. The tissues tend to absorb light, making it more it’s most needed, to the photosensitisers which tackle
Advantages are realised over conventional packaging dummy structures, the process chain can be challenging for doctors to access some types of tumours and kill cancer cells. “
processes due to the way chiplets are arranged on transferred to real-world customer applications. which grow deeper in the body, as, for example, in the
an active or passive wafer substrate with a shared This enables a scalable integration architecture for bladder.
interconnect stack. Since the interconnects are future heterogeneous system solutions. “
The new device is designed to be flexible and small
formed in the front-end-of-line process, much higher Reference: ‘The Future of Chip Integration: Fraunhofer IPMS develops
enough to be implanted next to tumours so that light can
connection densities can be achieved than with High-density Chiplet Systems at the Wafer Level’, Commercial Micro
Manufacturing International, 19th. May reach treatment sites more directly, minimising the need
traditional methods.
for invasive procedures, whilst by drawing power from a
wireless source the need for external power is removed.
The device is disc-shaped and 40mm wide. It was
fabricated at the James Watt Nanofabrication Centre
Visit our website! and uses four micro-LEDs on a flexible substrate of
Paryline C, a biocompatible polymer used for medical
implants. Using power drawn wirelessly via resonant
inductive coupling, the LEDs can deliver optical outputs in
Why not head down to our website and excess of five megawatts.
read more news in our blog section? In laboratory tests using materials designed to closely Professor David Flynn, leader of the EPSRC PATIENT
mimic human tissues, it was shown that light could project at the James Watt School of Engineering, adds:
be sent with minimal loss through slices of synthetic
Updated daily with hand-picked articles tissues up to 50mm thick. A photosensitiser solution “ These are very encouraging results, which
demonstrate how flexible bioelectronics, wireless
from around the web... was also used to test how the system could be used
to generate singlet oxygen, which is a highly-reactive, power delivery and photonics can be combined to
create advanced, minimally invasive treatments,
cancer-destroying molecule that is produced by the
institutionofelectronics.ac.uk interaction between photosensitisers and light. Findings which could improve the clinical outcomes of
photodynamic therapies.
showed that the solution reacted to light from the LEDs as

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