Description:
INV-20026
Background
Lipid membranes are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry and research areas to study the impact of various drugs on protein channels, which are often drug targets. The proposed process to form angled apertures can be used for various applications, such as to make a pillars-on-wedge aperture that supports lipid membranes for electrophysiology experiments.
Technology Overview
In this invention, Northeastern researchers have developed a method to produce a graded aperture in a polymeric material using grayscale photolithography (GPL). The distinguishing feature of the invention is that the angles and pillared structure afford much higher stability for the lipid membranes than current state‑of‑the‑art aperture methods.
Benefits
- Easy formation of highly stable lipid membranes
- High voltage stability
- The longevity of the lipid membranes exceeds state-of-the-art
- Scalability of the process to produce chips
Applications
- Can be used for making pillars-on-wedge apertures that support lipid membranes for electrophysiology experiments.
Opportunity
- License
- Research collaboration
- Partnering