Ball, founded in 1996, is the only known company in the world that is developing the silicon spheres, said Shekhar Wadkekar, an analyst with Dain Rauscher. Ball's technology offers big potential, Wadkekar said. Among its investors are Toyoda and Mitsui High-Tec. The entire balls are covered with integrated circuits, instead of just one surface that is covered in flat chips, allowing more concentrated use of circuits. Ball says its silicon spheres are more sensitive than flat chips and are flexible.
Ball plans to use the silicon balls for wireless communications, using radio frequencies.
The company already has made a deal with a Japanese firm to produce radio frequency tagging for cargo and baggage, she said. The company sees enormous uses for its silicon spheres in medical technology and expects to bring to market its first medical product using its technology within in the next six months. The Ball Accelerometer, which can measure activity, such as walking or standing, and sense direction, is designed for use in pacemakers, wheelchairs and other medical devices. Ball is working on attaching its technology to surgical equipment and other items used in surgery, such as sponges, to protect against having surgical items left in patients. The patient would be scanned to see if any surgical items could be detected before the patient was released from surgery, Ahn said.