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Our fluffy and salty brains are capable of doing amazing things – to order us to walk to the resolution of complex questions on our world. Scientists and science fiction writers have longed to understand (and even) control our brains, but they have so far been incredibly complex to solve.
Strangely enough, the development of a new, biocompatible polymer coating for electronic implants by a team of researchers from the University of Delaware may be the key to better understanding this biological black box.
These polymers would not only leave less scars on biological tissue than inorganically coated electronics, but would also allow scientists to adjust the sensitivity of polymers – which could allow for the creation of early warning systems for the presence of disease. harmful.
Plus, as these devices continue to mature, scientists say they could be the answer to creating an efficient human brain-AI interface in the future.
Lead author of the study and professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Delaware, David Martin, tells Reverse this current technology is used to develop biocompatible electronic components such as pacemakers, cochlear implants and deep brain stimulation. Critically, these technologies have faced limitations – Martin says his team’s innovation might be the solution.
“There are limits in both the reliability and performance of the devices themselves,” says Martin. “Our materials are intended to bridge the gap between the inert, rigid, solid and abiotic engineering device and the living, soft, moist biotic tissue.”
The materials scientists and engineers behind the research presented their findings at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting and Expo on Monday. The team stumbled upon this need for a better biocompatible interface when struggling to integrate inorganic electronics into the brain.
The search for a biocompatible coating – Typical microelectronic materials, such as silicon, gold, stainless steel, or iridium, can cause scarring when embedded in biological tissue. In the case of the brain or muscle tissue, these scars can disrupt the movement of electrical signals.
Instead of completely removing these materials, Martin and his colleagues hypothesized that designing a biocompatible coating to cover these devices could give them the best of both worlds.
After experimenting with a number of materials, the team stumbled upon an unlikely hero.
“We started looking at organic electronic materials like conjugated polymers that were used in non-biological devices,” says Martin. “We have found a chemically stable example which has been sold commercially as an antistatic coating for electronic displays.”
The polymer coating is technically referred to as poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) or PEDOT. It is both electrically and ionically active, which the authors claim helps reduce its impedance (i.e., its opposition to the circulating electric charge) by three to four orders of magnitude compared to l electronics without this coating.
“The ability to polymerize in a controlled manner inside a living organism would be fascinating.”
Thanks to its low impedance, this coating increases both the signal strength and battery life of these devices.
In addition to these basic improvements, the authors claim that these polymers can also be modified to add specific functional properties. Researchers can effectively add any peptides, antibodies, or even DNA they want to these modified PEDOTs, Martin explains.
“Name your favorite biomolecule, and you can basically make a PEDOT movie that has the biofunctional group you’re interested in,” he says.
Martin and his colleagues tested this property by incorporating into the film an antibody capable of detecting when a blood vessel growth hormone is hijacked by a tumor.
And after – Such a feature could be used to detect the early stages of certain cancers. Martin says his research team pursued this type of feature for the last twenty years.
Beyond its diagnostic use, says Martin Reverse There is also interest in how a polymeric coating like this could be used in brain-machine interfaces and even in the incorporation of AI into the human brain. Although futuristic, Terminator-As cyborgs are still in the realm of science fiction, Martin says this area of research is evolving rapidly.
“In real life, we’ve seen people with paralysis being able to control cursors on a computer screen and prosthetic arms with their brains,” says Martin. “Recently a number of big players like Elon Musk’s Glaxo Smith Kline and Neuralink have entered the game; the technology is now evolving rapidly and it is clear that there will be some remarkable future developments.”
As for this research, Martin says their next steps will be to better understand how to tune the behavior of these polymers and then (eventually) incorporate them into living organisms.
“The ability to polymerize in a controlled manner inside a living organism would be fascinating.”
Abstract: We have studied the design, synthesis and characterization of conjugated polymers for the integration of bioelectronic devices with living tissue. These devices are under development for a variety of applications that require long term electrical communication and an interface between active electronic devices and soft biological electrolytic systems. Specific examples including microfabricated neural electrodes, bionic prostheses and cardiac mapping devices. We have developed a variety of functionalized poly (alkoxythiophenes) which significantly improve the electronic, mechanical and biological properties of these materials. We will discuss the use of electrochemical deposition methods, combined with a variety of physical and characterization techniques, which have enabled us to understand the relationship between the chemical structure, morphology and macroscopic properties of these polymers. These studies have inspired the design of new molecular structures for improved performance. More recently, we have directly monitored the electrodeposition process using low dose liquid cell transmission electron microscopy.
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