The enhancement of neural growth by amino-functionalization on carbon nanotubes as a neural electrode

Semiconducting electrodes for neural interfacing: a review

In the past 50 years, the advent of electronic technology to directly interface with neural tissue has transformed the fields of medicine and biology. Devices that restore or even replace impaired bodily functions, such as deep brain stimulators and cochlear implants, have ushered in a new treatment era for previously intractable conditions. Meanwhile, electrodes for recording and stimulating neural activity have allowed researchers to unravel the vast complexities of the human nervous system. Recent advances in semiconducting materials have allowed effective interfaces between electrodes and neuronal tissue through novel devices and structures. Often these are unattainable using conventional metallic electrodes. These have translated into advances in research and treatment. The development of semiconducting materials opens new avenues in neural interfacing. This review considers this emerging class of electrodes and how it can facilitate electrical, optical, and chemical sensing and modulation with high spatial and temporal precision. Semiconducting electrodes have advanced electrically based neural interfacing technologies owing to their unique electrochemical and photo-electrochemical attributes. Key operation modalities, namely sensing and stimulation in electrical, biochemical, and optical domains, are discussed, highlighting their contrast to metallic electrodes from the application and characterization perspective.

Physical and chemical properties of carbon nanotubes in view of mechanistic neuroscience investigations. Some outlook from condensed matter, materials science and physical chemistry

The open border between non-living and living matter, suggested by increasingly emerging fields of nanoscience interfaced to biological systems, requires a detailed knowledge of nanomaterials properties. An account of the wide spectrum of phenomena, belonging to physical chemistry of interfaces, materials science, solid state physics at the nanoscale and bioelectrochemistry, thus is acquainted for a comprehensive application of carbon nanotubes interphased with neuron cells. This review points out a number of conceptual tools to further address the ongoing advances in coupling neuronal networks with (carbon) nanotube meshworks, and to deepen the basic issues that govern a biological cell or tissue interacting with a nanomaterial. Emphasis is given here to the properties and roles of carbon nanotube systems at relevant spatiotemporal scales of individual molecules, junctions and molecular layers, as well as to the point of view of a condensed matter or materials scientist. Carbon nanotube interactions with blood-brain barrier, drug delivery, biocompatibility and functionalization issues are also regarded.

Advanced Metallic and Polymeric Coatings for Neural Interfacing: Structures, Properties and Tissue Responses

Neural electrodes are essential for nerve signal recording, neurostimulation, neuroprosthetics and neuroregeneration, which are critical for the advancement of brain science and the establishment of the next-generation brain-electronic interface, central nerve system therapeutics and artificial intelligence. However, the existing neural electrodes suffer from drawbacks such as foreign body responses, low sensitivity and limited functionalities. In order to overcome the drawbacks, efforts have been made to create new constructions and configurations of neural electrodes from soft materials, but it is also more practical and economic to improve the functionalities of the existing neural electrodes via surface coatings. In this article, recently reported surface coatings for neural electrodes are carefully categorized and analyzed. The coatings are classified into different categories based on their chemical compositions, i.e., metals, metal oxides, carbons, conducting polymers and hydrogels. The characteristic microstructures, electrochemical properties and fabrication methods of the coatings are comprehensively presented, and their structure-property correlations are discussed. Special focus is given to the biocompatibilities of the coatings, including their foreign-body response, cell affinity, and long-term stability during implantation. This review article can provide useful and sophisticated insights into the functional design, material selection and structural configuration for the next-generation multifunctional coatings of neural electrodes.

A Review: Electrode and Packaging Materials for Neurophysiology Recording Implants

To date, a wide variety of neural tissue implants have been developed for neurophysiology recording from living tissues. An ideal neural implant should minimize the damage to the tissue and perform reliably and accurately for long periods of time. Therefore, the materials utilized to fabricate the neural recording implants become a critical factor. The materials of these devices could be classified into two broad categories: electrode materials as well as packaging and substrate materials. In this review, inorganic (metals and semiconductors), organic (conducting polymers), and carbon-based (graphene and carbon nanostructures) electrode materials are reviewed individually in terms of various neural recording devices that are reported in recent years. Properties of these materials, including electrical properties, mechanical properties, stability, biodegradability/bioresorbability, biocompatibility, and optical properties, and their critical importance to neural recording quality and device capabilities, are discussed. For the packaging and substrate materials, different material properties are desired for the chronic implantation of devices in the complex environment of the body, such as biocompatibility and moisture and gas hermeticity. This review summarizes common solid and soft packaging materials used in a variety of neural interface electrode designs, as well as their packaging performances. Besides, several biopolymers typically applied over the electrode package to reinforce the mechanical rigidity of devices during insertion, or to reduce the immune response and inflammation at the device-tissue interfaces are highlighted. Finally, a benchmark analysis of the discussed materials and an outlook of the future research trends are concluded.

Micro/Nano Technologies for High-Density Retinal Implant

During the past decades, there have been leaps in the development of micro/nano retinal implant technologies, which is one of the emerging applications in neural interfaces to restore vision. However, higher feedthroughs within a limited space are needed for more complex electronic systems and precise neural modulations. Active implantable medical electronics are required to have good electrical and mechanical properties, such as being small, light, and biocompatible, and with low power consumption and minimal immunological reactions during long-term implantation. For this purpose, high-density implantable packaging and flexible microelectrode arrays (fMEAs) as well as high-performance coating materials for retinal stimulation are crucial to achieve high resolution. In this review, we mainly focus on the considerations of the high-feedthrough encapsulation of implantable biomedical components to prolong working life, and fMEAs for different implant sites to deliver electrical stimulation to targeted retinal neuron cells. In addition, the functional electrode materials to achieve superior stimulation efficiency are also reviewed. The existing challenge and future research directions of micro/nano technologies for retinal implant are briefly discussed at the end of the review.

CNT Incorporated Polyacrilonitrile/Polypyrrole Nanofibers as Keratinocytes Scaffold

Polypyrrole (PPy) is an attractive scaffold material for tissue engineering with its non-toxic and electrically conductive properties. There has not been enough information about PPy usage in skin tissue engineering. The aim of this study is to investigate biocompatibility of polyacrilonitrile (PAN)/PPy nanofibrous scaffold for human keratinocytes. PAN/PPy bicomponent nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning, in various PPy concentrations and with carbon nanotube (CNT) incorporation. The average diameter of electrospun nanofibers decreased with increasing PPy concentration. Further, agglomerated CNTs caused beads and disordered parts on the surface of nanofibers. Biocompatibility of these PAN/PPy and PAN/PPy/CNT scaffolds were analyzed in vitro. Both scaffolds provided adhesion and proliferation of keratinocytes. Nanofiber diameter did not significantly influence the morphology of cells. However, with increasing number of cells, cells stayed among nanofibers and this affected their shape and size. In this study, we demonstrated that PAN/PPy and PAN/PPy/CNT scaffolds enabled the growth of keratinocytes, showing their biocompatibility.

High-performance interactive analysis of split aptamer and HIV-1 Tat on multiwall carbon nanotube-modified field-effect transistor

Interaction between split RNA aptamer and the clinically important target, HIV-1 Tat was investigated on a biosensing surface transduced by functionally choreographed multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Acid oxidation was performed to functionalize MWCNTs with carboxyl functional groups. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis had profound ~2.91% increment in overall oxygen group and ~1% increment was noticed with a specific carboxyl content owing to CO and OCO bonding. The interaction between split RNA aptamer and HIV-1 Tat protein was quantified by electrical measurements with the current signal (I_ds) over a gate voltage (V_gs). Initially, 34.4 mV gate voltage shift was observed by the immobilization of aptamer on MWCNT. With aptamer and HIV-1 Tat interaction, the current flow was decreased with the concomitant gate voltage shift of 23.5 mV. The attainment of sensitivity with split aptamer and HIV-1 Tat interaction on the fabricated device was 600 pM. To ensure the genuine interaction of aptamer with HIV-1 Tat, other HIV-1 proteins, Nef and p24 were interacted with aptamer and they displayed the negligible interferences with gate voltage shift of 3.5 mV and 5.7 mV, which shows 4 and 2.5 folds lesser than HIV-1 Tat interaction, respectively.

The applications of conductive nanomaterials in the biomedical field

As their name suggests, conductive nanomaterials (CNMs) are a type of functional materials, which not only have a high surface area to volume ratio, but also possess excellent conductivity. Thus far, CNMs have been widely used in biomedical applications, such as effectively transferring electrical signals, and providing a large surface area to adsorb proteins and induce cellular functions. Recent works propose further applications of CNMs in biosensors, tissue engineering, neural probes, and drug delivery. This review focuses on common types of CNMs and elaborates on their unique properties, which indicate that such CNMs have a potential to develop into a class of indispensable biomaterials for the diagnosis and therapy of human diseases.

Immobilization and surface functionalization of gold nanoparticles monitored via streaming current/potential measurements

A streaming current/potential method is optimized and used for the analysis of the variation of the surface potential upon chemical modifications of a complex interface consisting of different organic molecules and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The surfaces of Si/SiO2 substrates modified with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), AuNPs, and 11-amino-1-undecanethiol (aminothiols) are analyzed via pH and time dependent ζ potential measurements that reveal the stability and modification of the surface and identify crucial parameters for each individual preparation step. For instance, surface activation and especially molecular adsorbate layers tend not to be stable in time, whereas the substrate and the AuNPs provide a stable surface potential as long as impurities are avoided. It is shown that the streaming potential/current technique represents an ideal tool to analyze and monitor the complex surfaces and their modification.

Coatings of nanostructured pristine graphene-IrOx hybrids for neural electrodes: Layered stacking and the role of non-oxygenated graphene

The need to enhance charge capacity in neural stimulation-electrodes is promoting the formation of new materials and coatings. Among all the possible types of graphene, pristine graphene prepared by graphite electrochemical exfoliation, is used in this work to form a new nanostructured IrOx-graphene hybrid (IrOx-eG). Graphene is stabilized in suspension by IrOx nanoparticles without surfactants. Anodic electrodeposition results in coatings with much smaller roughness than IrOx-graphene oxide. Exfoliated pristine graphene (eG), does not electrodeposit in absence of iridium, but IrOx-nanoparticle adhesion on graphene flakes drives the process. IrOx-eG has a significantly different electronic state than graphene oxide, and different coordination for carbon. Electron diffraction shows the reflection features expected for graphene. IrOx 1-2 nm cluster/nanoparticles are oxohydroxo-species and adhere to 10nm graphene platelets. eG induces charge storage capacity values five times larger than in pure IrOx, and if calculated per carbon atom, this enhancement is one order magnitude larger than the induced by graphene oxide. IrOx-eG coatings show optimal in vitro neural cell viability and function as cell culture substrates. The fully straightforward electrochemical exfoliation and electrodeposition constitutes a step towards the application of graphene in biomedical systems, expanding the knowledge of pristine graphene vs. graphene oxide, in bioelectrodes.

Tuning neuron adhesion and neurite guiding using functionalized AuNPs and backfill chemistry

Gold nanoparticles are used to investigate the dependence of neuron adhesion on the density of cell binding sites and particle backfill. Neurons viability and neurite development depend differently on cell attractive and cell repellant surface cues.

Effect of nitrogen atomic percentage on N+-bombarded MWCNTs in cytocompatibility and hemocompatibility

N+-bombarded multi-walled carbon nanotubes (N+-bombarded MWCNTs), with different nitrogen atomic percentages, were achieved by different N ion beam currents using ion beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) on MWCNTs synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Characterizations of N+-bombarded MWCNTs were evaluated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, and contact angle. For comparison, the in vitro cytocompatibility of the N+-bombarded MWCNTs with different N atomic percentages was assessed by cellular adhesion investigation using human endothelial cells (EAHY926) and mouse fibroblast cells (L929), respectively. The results showed that the presence of nitrogen in MWCNTs accelerated cell growth and proliferation of cell culture. The higher nitrogen content of N+-bombarded MWCNTs, the better cytocompatibility. In addition, N+-bombarded MWCNTs with higher N atomic percentage displayed lower platelet adhesion rate. No hemolysis can be observed on the surfaces. These results proved that higher N atomic percentage led N+-bombarded MWCNTs to better hemocompatibility.

Biofunctionalisation of electrically conducting polymers

During a single decade of research, evidence has emerged that glial scar formation around the electro-tissue interface drives neural loss and increases the signal impedance of the electrodes, compromising the efficiency of the stimulating systems. Studies with conducting polymers (CPs) as electrode coatings have shown enhanced tissue integration and electrode performance in situ through biochemical and physicomechanical functionalisation. In this review, recent findings on CP modifications are provided in the context of neurospecific biomaterials, shedding light on the valuable impact of multifunctionalised strategies for biomedical applications.

Control of cell adhesion and neurite outgrowth by patterned gold nanoparticles with tunable attractive or repulsive surface properties

Guiding of neuronal cells on surfaces is required for the investigation of fundamental aspects of neurobiology, for tissue engineering, and for numerous bioelectronic applications. A modular method to establish nanostructured chemical templates for local deposition of gold nanoparticles is presented. A process comprising nanoimprint lithography, silanization, lift-off, and gold nanoparticle immobilization is used to fabricate the particle patterns. The chemical composition of the surface can be modified by in situ adsorption of cell-binding ligands to locally addressed particles. The versatility of this approach is demonstrated by inverting the binding affinity between rat cortical neurons and nanopatterned surfaces via wet-chemical means and thereby reversing the pattern of guided neurons.