Despite the remarkable advances in the development of miniaturized sensing and analytical components for use in a variety of biomedical and clinical applications, the ability to assemble and interface individual components in order to achieve a high level of integration in complete working systems continues to pose daunting challenges for the analytical chemistry, bioengineering and scientific community as a whole. The McDevitt laboratory has developed previously a number of miniaturized sensor concepts and methodologies that are suitable for a variety of important application areas such as clinical, environmental, bioterrorism, humanitarian and saliva-based diagnostic tools.

Over the past five decades, the microelectronics industry has sustained tremendous growth and has become what is arguably the most dominant industrial sector for our society. The electronics industry has spawned compounded annual growth of over 30% over this extended time period. This industry has touched almost every aspect of our modern lives through the development of personal computers, portable communication devices, various consumer electronics, navigation tools, imaging devices, etc. The availability of powerful microfabrication tools based on photolithographic methods that can be used to process these devices in highly parallel manner has led to this explosive growth. Recently, it has become clear that the electronic industry will face new and significant challenges as component device feature sizes shrink into the nanometer size regime. However, with the challenge here comes the opportunity to develop a number of fascinating new sensors and devices using nano meter sized building blocks. The ultimate applications to be derived from such interdisciplinary efforts are likely to occur for the sectors in the life sciences and in the areas related to the health industries. Challenges with spiraling health care costs associated with cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, the global HIV crisis, and environmental and homeland defense areas all provide strong motivation for the creation of a bridge between microelectronics, nano-engineering and the health sciences.

With the use of microfabrication tools, the McDevitt lab has begun to develop a series of powerful mini-test systems based on micro-bead arrays. These test ensembles exploit micro-etched pits within silicon wafers that are populated with a variety of chemically sensitized bead "micro-reactors." Such flexible sensor systems can be described as "chemical processing units." Developed initially as an "electronic taste chip" system, this lab-on-a-chip-based sensor platform has been adapted now for a broad range of analyte classes including pH, electrolytes, metal cations, sugars, biological co-factors, toxins, proteins, antibodies, and oligonucleotides. In a second important area, the McDevitt lab has begun to develop a series of membrane-based devices, now described as "cellular processing units", that show utility for a variety of cell-based tests. These units have been adapted for HIV immune function testing, have led to the creation of a new company in Austin called LabNow, and have shown significant utility in initial testing in US and Africa settings.