News

28 May 2009

 

Spire receives nano PV patent; applications include biotherapeutics

The US Patent and Trademark Office has issued US Patent No. 7,514,725 B2 ‘Nanophotovoltaic Devices’ to Spire Corp of Bedford, MA, USA, which provides turnkey production lines and capital equipment for manufacturing photovoltaic modules.

The patent concerns nanophotovoltaic devices formed from silicon or gallium arsenide with sizes ranging from about 50nm to about 5 microns, as well as the method of their fabrication.

Although there are a number of applications, the patent describes one application to inject nanophotovoltaic devices into diseased tissue (e.g. cancerous tissue) and activate these cells by using suitable radiation. The cells can generate electric fields in the tissue, causing a disruption of the cancerous cells.

“This is an extension of our solar energy technology into biotherapeutics,” says Roger G. Little, Spire’s chairman & CEO and co-inventor of the technology. “Functionalized nanophotovoltaic devices can go to cancerous cells in the body and, when exposed to tissue-penetrating light, may provide sufficient electrical energy to destroy the cells,” he adds. “We are continuing to exploit this technology in our R&D activities.”

See related item:

Spire awarded $3.7m NREL program to develop 42%-efficient CPVs

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Visit: www.spirecorp.com