ISSYS and Affinity Biosensors Sign Licensing Agreement

YPSILANTI, MI /Marketwire/ -- Integrated Sensing Systems Inc. (ISSYS) announced that it has signed an intellectual property licensing agreement with Affinity Biosensors LCC of Santa Barbara, CA. Affinity Biosensors is developing and commercializing methods of measuring and monitoring particles, cells, bacteria, and viruses, using resonating micromachined tubes. Specialists in MEMS technology, ISSYS has developed resonating silicon microtubes for more than a decade for a variety of applications. The licensing agreement allows Affinity Biosensors to use ISSYS' microtube fabrication technology to develop more advanced versions of their unique particulate sensors.

Dr. Nader Najafi, ISSYS President and CEO, stated, "This agreement allows Affinity Biosensors to take ISSYS' basic technology into new directions and helps Affinity Biosensors tap new markets in particle detection. ISSYS has used this same technology to develop and launch a variety of microfluidic products, like density, chemical concentration, and Coriolis mass flow sensors. These sensors have been applied in medical, fuel cell, industrial, and fuel handling applications. We are excited to see the technology being applied to biological-detection markets."

Dr. Ken Babcock, Affinity Biosensors' CEO, added, "We are pleased to be able to use ISSYS' MEMS processing technology to improve our particle sensors. We anticipate improvements in yield and cost that will translate to better value for our customers having demanding applications in nanoparticle and biological measurements."

About ISSYS
Integrated Sensing Systems Inc. is a leader in advanced MEMS technologies for industrial, medical, microfluidic, and scientific analytical sensing applications. Founded in 1995, ISSYS is one of the oldest independent MEMS companies in the U.S. ISSYS operates a "full manufacturing under one roof," multi-million-dollar, state-of-the-art MEMS fabrication facility, located near Ann Arbor, MI. An ISO 9001:2000–certified and ISO 13485:2003 (medical device manufacturing) –qualified organization, ISSYS is a vertically integrated company, dedicated to developing and manufacturing system-level products based on MEMS technology (MEMS Inside).

About Affinity Biosensors
Affinity Biosensors produces analytical instruments for mass-based measurements of individual particles and cells in fluids. Its new particle characterization platform, Archimedes, will be introduced this summer for industrial particle and nanoparticle characterization, and for biological samples, such as bacteria and cells. Direct mass measurement offers excellent resolution, throughput, reproducibility, and accuracy, with significant advantages over conventional light-scattering instruments.