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Hiendlmeier L, Zurita F, Vogel J, Del Duca F, Al Boustani G, Peng H, Kopic I, Nikić M, F Teshima T, Wolfrum B. 4D-Printed Soft and Stretchable Self-Folding Cuff Electrodes for Small-Nerve Interfacing. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2023; 35:e2210206. [PMID: 36594106 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202210206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Peripheral nerve interfacing (PNI) has a high clinical potential for treating various diseases, such as obesity or diabetes. However, currently existing electrodes present challenges to the interfacing procedure, which limit their clinical application, in particular, when targeting small peripheral nerves (<200 µm). To improve the electrode handling and implantation, a nerve interface that can fold itself to a cuff around a small nerve, triggered by the body moisture during insertion, is fabricated. This folding is achieved by printing a bilayer of a flexible polyurethane printing resin and a highly swelling sodium acrylate hydrogel using photopolymerization. When immersed in an aqueous liquid, the hydrogel swells and folds the electrode softly around the nerve. Furthermore, the electrodes are robust, can be stretched (>20%), and bent to facilitate the implantation due to the use of soft and stretchable printing resins as substrates and a microcracked gold film as conductive layer. The straightforward implantation and extraction of the electrode as well as stimulation and recording capabilities on a small peripheral nerve in vivo are demonstrated. It is believed that such simple and robust to use self-folding electrodes will pave the way for bringing PNI to a broader clinical application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas Hiendlmeier
- Neuroelectronics, Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Computation, Informatics and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Piloty-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
- Medical & Health Informatics Laboratories, NTT Research Incorporated, 940 Stewart Dr, Sunnyvale, CA, 94085, USA
| | - Francisco Zurita
- Neuroelectronics, Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Computation, Informatics and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Piloty-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
- Medical & Health Informatics Laboratories, NTT Research Incorporated, 940 Stewart Dr, Sunnyvale, CA, 94085, USA
| | - Jonas Vogel
- Neuroelectronics, Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Computation, Informatics and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Piloty-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
| | - Fulvia Del Duca
- Neuroelectronics, Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Computation, Informatics and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Piloty-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
- Medical & Health Informatics Laboratories, NTT Research Incorporated, 940 Stewart Dr, Sunnyvale, CA, 94085, USA
| | - George Al Boustani
- Neuroelectronics, Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Computation, Informatics and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Piloty-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
- Medical & Health Informatics Laboratories, NTT Research Incorporated, 940 Stewart Dr, Sunnyvale, CA, 94085, USA
| | - Hu Peng
- Neuroelectronics, Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Computation, Informatics and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Piloty-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
| | - Inola Kopic
- Neuroelectronics, Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Computation, Informatics and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Piloty-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
| | - Marta Nikić
- Neuroelectronics, Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Computation, Informatics and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Piloty-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
| | - Tetsuhiko F Teshima
- Neuroelectronics, Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Computation, Informatics and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Piloty-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
- Medical & Health Informatics Laboratories, NTT Research Incorporated, 940 Stewart Dr, Sunnyvale, CA, 94085, USA
| | - Bernhard Wolfrum
- Neuroelectronics, Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Computation, Informatics and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Piloty-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
- Medical & Health Informatics Laboratories, NTT Research Incorporated, 940 Stewart Dr, Sunnyvale, CA, 94085, USA
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Filtration-processed biomass nanofiber electrodes for flexible bioelectronics. J Nanobiotechnology 2022; 20:491. [PMCID: PMC9675094 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-022-01684-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
An increasing demand for bioelectronics that interface with living systems has driven the development of materials to resolve mismatches between electronic devices and biological tissues. So far, a variety of different polymers have been used as substrates for bioelectronics. Especially, biopolymers have been investigated as next-generation materials for bioelectronics because they possess interesting characteristics such as high biocompatibility, biodegradability, and sustainability. However, their range of applications has been restricted due to the limited compatibility of classical fabrication methods with such biopolymers. Here, we introduce a fabrication process for thin and large-area films of chitosan nanofibers (CSNFs) integrated with conductive materials. To this end, we pattern carbon nanotubes (CNTs), silver nanowires, and poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) by a facile filtration process that uses polyimide masks fabricated via laser ablation. This method yields feedlines of conductive material on nanofiber paper and demonstrates compatibility with conjugated and high-aspect-ratio materials. Furthermore, we fabricate a CNT neural interface electrode by taking advantage of this fabrication process and demonstrate peripheral nerve stimulation to the rapid extensor nerve of a live locust. The presented method might pave the way for future bioelectronic devices based on biopolymer nanofibers.
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