bio-ec.com

Here's what it says on the bio-ec.com website:

Transitioning the results of this multidisciplinary research to commercial products will be expedited through collaboration at early stages between the electronics industry and the biomedical device industry, along with the academic and government research communities.       Bioelectronics is the discipline resulting from the convergence of biology and electronics and it has the potential to significantly impact many areas important to the nation’s economy and well-being, including healthcare and medicine, homeland security, forensics, and protecting the environment and the food supply. Not only can advances in electronics impact biology and medicine, but conversely understanding biology may provide powerful insights into efficient assembly processes, devices, and architectures for nanoelectronics technologies, as physical limits of existing technologies are approached. The functions and organ systems of our body are, to a significant extent, controlled by electrical signals that travel along the nerves. Bioelectronic medicines will aim to control biological processes and treat disease by modulating these electrical impulses. They will be minaturised devices that connect to specific groups of neurons or their nerve fibres and modulate the electrical signalling patterns, to restore the healthy states of targeted organs and functions. We believe bioelectronic medicines could allow us to address some diseases that have so far been untreatable, and others with greater precision and fewer side effects than with conventional molecular medicines. Bioelectronics research based on input from experts engaged for this study. This framework is intended to catalyze further analyses and a comprehensive road-mapping exercise. Bioelectronics is an enabler for the development of molecular-based personalized medicine. Given the profound impact electronics has had on medicine and biology in the past, it is easy to imagine that integrating modern electronics (i.e., semiconductor technology) with biology and medicine will result in equally profound quantum leaps. Measurements (35%) – Works on sensors, monitoring systems and metrology. Sensors (9%) – Fabrication and properties of biosensors, biological, and chemical sensors. Biochemical measurements (7%) – Application of biosensors. “Bio-electronic Nose” (6%) – Efforts focused on system integration for one targeted application. Neural recording (2%) – Focus on microelectrode arrays and their interfaces with neurons. BioFET (4%) – Field-Effect-Transistor-like devices for bio-sensing. Bio-electronic Instrumentation (7%) – Practical (e.g. clinical) application of bio-electronic devices. Biomaterials (29%) – Materials and fabrication techniques for bio-electronic devices, medical implants, 3D assembly, self-assembly, nano-particles, nano-tubes, nano-wires, etc. This includes electronics for both detection and characterization of biological materials, such as on the cellular and subcellular level. Bioelectronics also focuses on physically interfacing electronic devices with biological systems (e.g., brain-machine, cell-electrode, or protein-electrode). Moving bioelectronics forward requires innovation among the broad areas of measurements and analyses, fabrication, biocompatibility, and power sources. In general, these cross-cutting challenges either stem from a lack of technology, biological understanding, or a combination of both.