bmdo technologies for biomedical applications - MDA Technology

ULTRAFAST LIGHT-ACTIVATED SWITCHESBMDO HISTORYEnergy Compression Research (ECR; San Diego, CA) has developed a revolutionaryultrafast semiconductor switching technology called light-activatedsilicon switching (LASS). With contracts from the early days of BMDOresearch, ECR focused its efforts on developing photoconductive switchesthat have applications in electronics, electro-optics, and photonics forweapons such as the electromagnetic gun.88• The minuscule silicon switch hasmultiple applications in biotechnologyand medical imaging.Electroporation is now a HOW IT WORKSECR’s LASS technology involves semiconductordevices that use laser light to switchworkhorse application fora current on or off. Semiconductors aremolecular biology, whereubiquitous in the electronics industry,where they function as power amplifiers,it is used to transformstorage modules, and switches. Switchingbacteria, yeast, and human current on and off is the most general functionof the semiconductor. Conventionalcells with foreign DNA, semiconductor switching time is governedby the speed at which electrons traverse theenabling E. coli, for switch. The LASS device uses the absorptionof laser light to create the conductinginstance, to secreteelectrons within the semiconductor, resultingin a thousandfold increase in switchingmammalian proteins liketime compared with conventional switches.insulin or interferon. The high-speed, low-jitter, and zero-delayLASS device can be used to power lasers,route signals in fiber-optic communicationsdevices, control industrial motors, and power high-frequency radar communications.LASS technology offers high efficiency and cost savings inthese areas.MEDICAL SIGNIFICANCEECR is currently developing LASS technology for applications in the medicalindustry. One area of concentration includes analytical instrumentssuch as flow cytometers, mass spectrometers, and fluorescence lifetimespectrometers. Lasers designed by ECR provide high reliability as well as acompact footprint for these devices.A second medical application is in imaging systems. ECR is looking to thefar-future application of optical diffuse tomography, a technology that mayenable doctors to perform mammography without ionizing radiation. Thistechnology was envisioned more than a generation ago as “diaphanography,”a method that is familiar to anyone who has shone a flashlightthrough his or her hand. For breast tissue, however, high-intensity visible-Chapter 3 - Intervention TechnologiesSection B - TreatmentBMDO Technologies for Biomedical Applications