Bioresorbable silicon electronic sensors for the brain

Authors

Seung Kyun Kang, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Rory K.J. Murphy, Washington University School of Medicine in St. LouisFollow
Suk Won Hwang, Korea University
Seung Min Lee, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Daniel V. Harburg, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Neil A. Krueger, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Jiho Shin, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Paul Gamble, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Huanyu Cheng, Pennsylvania State University
Sooyoun Yu, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Zhuangjian Liu, A-Star, Institute of High Performance Computing
Jordan G. McCall, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Manu Stephen, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Hanze Ying, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Jeonghyun Kim, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Gayoung Park, Korea University
R. Chad Webb, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Chi Hwan Lee, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering
Sangjin Chung, University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignFollow
Dae Seung Wie, Purdue University
Amit D. Gujar, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Bharat Vemulapalli, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Albert H. Kim, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Kyung Mi Lee, Korea University College of Medicine
Jianjun Cheng, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Younggang Huang, Northwestern University
Sang Hoon Lee, Korea University
Paul V. Braun, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Wilson Z. Ray, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
John A. Rogers, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Many procedures in modern clinical medicine rely on the use of electronic implants in treating conditions that range from acute coronary events to traumatic injury. However, standard permanent electronic hardware acts as a nidus for infection: bacteria form biofilms along percutaneous wires, or seed haematogenously, with the potential to migrate within the body and to provoke immune-mediated pathological tissue reactions. The associated surgical retrieval procedures, meanwhile, subject patients to the distress associated with re-operation and expose them to additional complications. Here, we report materials, device architectures, integration strategies, and in vivo demonstrations in rats of implantable, multifunctional silicon sensors for the brain, for which all of the constituent materials naturally resorb via hydrolysis and/or metabolic action, eliminating the need for extraction. Continuous monitoring of intracranial pressure and temperature illustrates functionality essential to the treatment of traumatic brain injury; the measurement performance of our resorbable devices compares favourably with that of non-resorbable clinical standards. In our experiments, insulated percutaneous wires connect to an externally mounted, miniaturized wireless potentiostat for data transmission. In a separate set-up, we connect a sensor to an implanted (but only partially resorbable) data-communication system, proving the principle that there is no need for any percutaneous wiring. The devices can be adapted to sense fluid flow, motion, pH or thermal characteristics, in formats that are compatible with the body's abdomen and extremities, as well as the deep brain, suggesting that the sensors might meet many needs in clinical medicine.

Publication Date

2-4-2016

Publication Title

Nature

ISSN

00280836

E-ISSN

14764687

Volume

530

Issue

7588

First Page

71

Last Page

76

PubMed ID

26779949

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1038/nature16492

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