Marco Galazio discussed advanced screen printing techniques for manufacturing medical sensors, specifically focusing on continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensors. Applied Materials, the parent company, has a long history in the semiconductor business and has diversified into adjacent markets, including medical sensors. Their objective is to miniaturize the sensor's components and optimize the screen printing process for various layers in the sensor.
The screen printing process involves multiple steps and layers, such as the circuit layer with nano silver-based paste, the carbon sensing element, the insulating resist layer, and the silver/silver chloride material layer. Each layer requires optimization of printing speed, force, and curing conditions to achieve the desired specifications. For instance, the nano silver-based paste allows for features around 50 microns and requires careful management of the printing speed to balance shorting risks and process efficiency.
By benchmarking against other mainstream applications, they found that screen printing could be more cost-effective and competitive. The manufacturing tool they use integrates various subsystems, such as automation, inspection, and process control, for a fully packaged solution. Although the glucose-sensitive layer isn't integrated into the presented process, it is added later to create the complete biosensor. Challenges remain in using nanosilver for miniaturization, but improvements are ongoing.
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