While much of the scientific focus on longevity has been in the life sciences, other technologies offer equally promising developments. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is one technology that is yielding results that even the most imaginative doctors, scientists and technologists could not have dreamed of just a few short years ago.

MEMS is an approach to fabrication that uses, as a basis, the materials and processes of microelectronics fabrication to build mechanical components integrated as sensors and actuators with microelectronics.

Even at this early stage in exploration, biomedical MEMS technology is already beginning to yield significant developments.

For example, the rise in obesity and age of the world's population is leading to increased incidents of cardiovascular ailments and diabetes. MEMS technology is leading to new surgically implanted devices that are able to monitor the health of an individual from inside the human body. CardioMEMS is developing a Cardio Micro Sensor that uses MEMS technology to measure the amount of pressure inside arteries. The sensor works much like an automobile's EZPass. There is no onboard power, and the information is accessed using an external wand that activates the sensor and reads back all the pertinent information regarding the person's arteries.

MEMS is also enabling the creation of smart surgical instruments that decrease the risk and length of surgery — -decreasing patient recovery time and reducing the overall costs of healthcare delivery. Verimetra is using MEMS to turn existing surgical instruments into smart surgical instruments in several market applications including minimally invasive surgery, oncology, neurology, dentistry and fetal heart surgery.

Drug delivery is another area of explosive potential growth for biomedical MEMS. MicroChipd is developing a drug delivery system that uses silicon or polymeric microchips that have hundreds to thousands of microreservoirs with a combination of drugs, reagents or other chemicals.

These microchips enable implanted drug delivery mechanisms that will revolutionize the way pain medication, hormones and steroids are delivered to patients. Types of biomedical advances like these could enable new devices, such as portable, palm-size dialysis machines.

In the future people could be outfitted with MEMS sensors and actuators that measure body functions and ensure peak health, helping to maintain active lifestyles and provide automated, proactive healthcare.

While it's clear that the capabilities of these developments stand to revolutionize the way we treat disease and live our lives, MEMS technology applied to biomedicine may create a new set of ethical and business dilemmas for society.

How do we keep the sensors that monitor our health from reporting on our activities and lifestyle? Will MEMS-enabled products be equally available to the rich and poor? As implants become more capable, pervasive and a greater percentage of our bodies, what will it mean to be human?

Robust and rich
The MEMS industry is diverse, robust and rich with technology for use in biomedicine. The challenge for MEMS in biomedicine is not only to develop the right technologies, but also to be the wise sorcerer and not the sorcerer's apprentice.