A Heriot-Watt research group is building a manufacturing platform to mass-produce tiny medical devices—down to the scale of a few micrometres—that can be inserted into the body with minimal cutting. These micro-devices are already used for tasks such as detecting cancer cells, measuring pH in tissues, and delivering drugs to precise locations. But making them cheaply and reliably enough for widespread use remains a bottleneck. Current manufacturing methods struggle to combine optical sensors, electronic circuits, and chemical coatings in a single tiny package, and to seal the device so that body fluids cannot leak in. The group’s platform brings together laser-based techniques—ablation, sintering, bonding, and inscription—alongside additive and subtractive microfabrication using mechanical, chemical, evaporative, and microwave methods. This combination allows them to test many different manufacturing routes quickly, without the constraints of a standard grant. If the platform succeeds, it could lower the cost and speed up the production of minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic devices. That would make advanced medical tools more accessible to health services, not just for cancer but for a range of conditions where tiny, sealed, multi-function probes are needed. The project also reserves 10% of its budget for short, researcher-led proof-of-concept projects, which could spin off into new device designs or manufacturing techniques.
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Medical device technologies are vital for the detection and treatment of a great number of diseases and healthcare problems. Increasingly, micro-devices are being developed for minimally-invasive measurement and therapy, for example in cancer detection and drug delivery. To enable broad-based takeup of such devices it is vital to provide low-cost and reliable manufacturing solutions. The group at Heriot-Watt has significant experience in developing manufacturing solutions for a wide range of applications, with a particular focus in recent years on medical devices e.g. for cancer detection and treatment. Particular challenges include: miniaturisation to enable minimally invasive application; the low-cost integration of optical, chemical and electronic technologies; and hermetic sealing to prevent unwanted ingress of fluids, whilst allowing appropriate interaction e.g. measurement of cell stiffness, measurement of pH, laser ablation/treatment of cancerous tissue. Our manufacturing expertise (spanning laser techniques such as ablation, sintering, bonding and inscription; also additive and subtractive microfabrication processes based on mechanical, chemical, evaporative and microwave techniques), coupled with our highly supportive and growing base of clinical and industrial partners means that we are ideally placed to provide appropriate manufacturing solutions, and to enable rigorous testing and a route to commercialisation and ultimate application. The Platform will allow us to retain key staff, and to deploy them in ways that are not possible with standard proposals. In particular, we will be able to accelerate our ability to grasp immediate opportunities based on our existing collaborations, both within the group and with external partners, by carrying out critical proof-of-concept studies. The PDRAs employed will benefit greatly from the enhanced career development under the Platform. We will broaden their experience through research exchanges; engage them in proposals to win new funding; support them in applications for personal fellowships; provide them with dedicated funds for their own short proof-of-concept projects (10% of budget allocated to PDRA-led 'seedcorn' projects); provide a mentoring programme using industrial and academic members of our Advisory Board; and involve them in management of the Platform. We will organise facilitated workshops to bring together a broader group of academics and medics and to identify new collaborative activity and application areas. We will also employ targeted dissemination activity to inform current and potential industrial and clinical partners of the full range of our medical device manufacturing research activity.
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