August 18, 2005 – EV Group, Scharding, Austria, has announced lab-on-a-chip (LoC) developments achieved at its Singapore customer Institute of Microelectronics (IME), using wafer-processing tools supplied by EV Group.

IME plans to develop a fully integrated LoC, also known as Micro Total Analysis System (&#181TAS), which will perform three DNA/RNA analysis functions in one chip: extraction, amplification (or multiplication), and detection. The chip is expected to be ready for commercial production in two to three years’ time.

EV Group has supplied IME with several tools such as the EVG620 mask aligner and EVG501 bonder for 150mm wafer processing. The new EVG mask aligner and EVG520 production bonder for bonding microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) wafers to glass wafers are installed at IME’s fully operational 200mm silicon MEMS wafer process line, which was completed last year. The new 200mm line reportedly increases the yield of the large DNA chips 3x, compared to the previous production process. MEMS are frequently incorporated into biomedical applications requiring miniaturization, such as minimally invasive surgery, in vivo monitoring, in vitro testing, and smart implants.