Activities of the BEANS Laboratory

Achievements and Activities of the BEANS Project
At its five research centers (Life BEANS Center, Life
BEANS Center Kyushu, 3D BEANS Center, 3D BEANS Center
Shiga, and Macro BEANS Center) and its head office, theBEANS Laboratory has been conducting R&D on process
technologies for integrating biomaterials, integrating organic
matter, fabricating 3D nanostructures, fabricating 3D
nanostructures for space applications, and large-area
continuous manufacturing of micro/nanostructures, and has
been developing a knowledge database for next-generation
device fabrication technologies integrating heterogeneousfields. We have presented our research achievements at twentytwo academic conferences worldwide, including Transducers
2009, and have applied for five patents. In order to further
publicize the achievements of the BEANS Project, we exhibitedat the 20th Exhibition Micromachine/MEMS held at MicroNano
2009 on July 29–31, and organized the 3rd BEANS Project
Seminar. Moreover, we did press releases and the rosuH waspublished in the newspapers and journal articles and wastelecasted on the television coverage. This article describes thecontents of MicroNano 2009 and the press release held on June
19 as a part of the activities of the BEANS Project.

(2) 3rd BEANS Project Seminar
The seminar was held in conference area B on July 30(Thursday) at 13:10–17:00. Following greetings by Akira
Uehara, executive director of NEDO, and Atsushi Yusa, theBEANS project leader, Professor Masayoshi Esashi of Tohoku
University gave a guest lecture entitled “Prospects for MEMS
and expectations for the BEANS Project” and Deputy Editor
Tsuneyuki Miyake of Nikkei Microdevices gave a guest lecture
on “The MEMS market and recent technical trends.” Then, Sub
Project Leader Hiroyuki Fujita, a professor at the University ofTokyo, introduced “The structure and significance of theBEANS Project,” After that the center director or otherprincipal researcher for each research center (AssociateProfessor Masaharu Takeuchi, Professor Chihaya Adachi,
Associate Professor Masakazu Sugiyama, Professor Seiji
Samukawa, Professor Masaaki Kimata, and Group Leader
Toshihiro Ito) gave clear and concise presentations on the coreresearch and achievements of their respective projects. While
the presentations continued for a long time with no break, the200-capacity conference area remained overcapacity, withmany of the audience standing throughout.

1. MicroNano 2009(1) 20th Exhibition Micromachine/MEMS
The Exhibition Micromachine/MEMS provided an
opportunity for us to show the R&D achievements of each
BEANS research center through posters and actual
demonstrations. Models were made to simplify explanations onsuch difficult topics as neutral beam etching and supercriticalfilm deposition by visually illustrating the theory and principlesof these technologies. We also demonstrated functional vests
equipped with organic devices, and cloth-like touch sensors
formed of woven functional fibers to provide simple illustrationsof some developments in BEANS technology. Posters on theexterior of the booth facing the walkway provided an overall
description of the BEANS head quaters, while posters on
interior area illustrated the location of each research center inKyushu, Shiga, Tsukuba, and Tokyo (Komaba Campus) andprofiles of all researchers participating in the project. Set off in
a conspicuous green hue adorned with the bean logo thatsymbolizes the project, the booth attracted large crowds on
every day of the conference and elicited enthusiastic
discussion.

BEANS Project booth

Project Leader Atsushi Yusa giving the opening
remarks at the seminar

2. Press Release
Is Your Ear Glowing?! Developing a Blood Sugar Sensor
that Glows under the Skin
A press release was held from the Life BEANS Center onJune 19, 2009. Twelve mass communication companies
participated. The TV coverage was done at the same time in
NHK and Fuji Television, and it was delivered on news and theInternet at that night.
The press release announced that the Center had
succeeded in manufacturing beads with a uniform diameter ofabout 100 microns through microfabrication of a hydrogel
whose light emission varies in intensity according to the level ofblood sugar. By embedding these beads in a mouse’s ear,fluorescent light could be observed externally, as shown in thephoto. The Center was able to measure the brightness of thebeads externally as the brightness fluctuated in response tochanges in the surrounding glucose concentration. This
technology may lead to the future development of an embedded
blood sugar sensor for humans.

Demonstration offunctional vests

A mouse’s ear glows from embedded fluorescent gel beads

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