Shrink files patent related to rapid prototyping system for manufacture of Lab-on-a-Chip devices

Shrink Nanotechnologies, Inc. ("Shrink") (OTCBB: INKN), an innovative nanotechnology company developing products and licensing opportunities in the solar energy production, medical diagnostics and sensors, and biotechnology research and development tools businesses, announced today that patent applications related to its rapid prototyping system for the manufacture of microfluidic chips, or Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) devices, have been filed.

According to BCC Research Report's, Global Biochip Markets: Microarrays and Lab-on-a-Chip published in January 2010, the global biochip market grew from $2.4 billion in 2008 to $2.6 billion in 2009 and is forecasted $5.9 billion by 2014, representing a compound annual growth rate of nearly 18%. "Our inexpensive, rapid prototyping solution provides us with first-mover advantage to capitalize on the emerging market demand for more cost-effective and scalable medical device and cellular biology prototyping tools. Large-scale institutions, research labs and higher education have yet to take full advantage of the benefits of LOC due to the high-cost and labor intensive process of producing these devices. Our desktop and customizable solution can increase the accessibility to the tools researchers need to accelerate the time-to-market for novel therapies that may ultimately find cures to diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and many other deadly diseases," said Mark L. Baum, CEO of Shrink Nanotechnologies, Inc.

Utilizing Shrink's rapid prototyping solutions, even the most sophisticated three dimensional biochips can be developed with precise specifications and ease-of-use compared to current production methods that require many hours, day or even weeks of painstaking manual labor and expensive clean room equipment and/or robotics required to maintain a sterile environment. Using Shrink's patent-pending NanoShrink™ polymer material, researchers can design, cut, etch and print complex structures at the macro-level and then shrink them into the tiniest LOCs used in a wide range of 2-D and 3-D cellular-based disease models, drug testing and regenerative medicine.