High costs have hampered the deployment of biomedical devices for health monitoring, point-of-care diagnostics, and environmental sensing. To reduce the price of the devices and allow for their high-volume delivery, scientists from the Technical University of Dresden in Germany created a lightweight and mechanically flexible diagnostic platform. The technology is based on silicon nanowire field effect transistors fabricated on flexible polymeric foils, which are only 100 µm thick.

The devices, which detect subtype H1N1 Avian Influenza Virus, are about 10 times lighter than conventional Si wafers. The reduced weight make the platforms cost efficient for high-volume delivery to medical institutions worldwide.

The researchers believe that their sensitive diagnostic platform could allow the timely diagnosis of viral or infectious diseases in developing countries.

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