YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio, Nov. 19 -- YSI Inc. and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have entered into a cooperative research and development agreement to assess the technical feasibility and market potential for developing microbiosensors using NRL's Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (MAPLE) technology. YSI established the agreement with assistance from the TransAction Technology Group, a consortium that facilitates commercialization of technology developed at national laboratories. Members of the TTG consortium include UNISPHERE Institute in Arlington, Va.; the Federal Laboratory Consortium in Washington, D.C.; Johnstown, Va.-based Concurrent Technologies Corp.; and the US Army Industrial Ecology Center at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.
YSI will evaluate the MAPLE technology's ability to pattern various types of organic films at the microscale level without loss of functionality. This technology would be used by YSI to create microbiosensors as part of the company's larger development effort in microfluidic technology.