Leti and the semiconductor industry have the opportunity to provide new concepts and breakthrough applications for advanced personalized medicine and better diagnostics that will help meet these demands, and improve the lives of many people.

We are pursuing several axes of R&D in the biological and healthcare industries:

• Digital radiation detectors for medical imaging and homeland security
• Molecular imaging and drug delivery
• Lab-on-chip for in vitro diagnostics, environmental monitoring and environmental control
• Wearable and implantable medical devices

Point-of-care in developing countries

Miniaturization, connectivity and integration are opening new pathways to decentralized diagnostics. Point-of-care has tremendous potential in developing countries where centralized diagnostic facilities are in large towns and the healthcare infrastructure remains insufficient to serve large, rural populations.

Molecular diagnostics has recently created new prospects. The search for molecular causes of diseases and its extension to diagnostics are now considered the pathway to personalized medicine. This field is still in its early days and new generations of in vitro diagnostic systems, including innovative sample-preparation techniques, are needed.

Implantable, connectable, portable

Microelectronics and microsystems are enabling technologies for implanted medical devices and will play an important role in bringing new therapies to the healthcare market. Leti’s microelectronics and microsystems enable connectivity and portability. 3D heterogeneous integration of detection layers within CMOS electronics is the key for a new generation of detectors for medical imaging and in vitro diagnostics, and we continuously add skills in materials, microfluidics and chemistry.