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Bioresorbable silicon electronics for transient spatiotemporal mapping of electrical activity from the cerebral cortex

Nature Materials volume 15, pages 782–791 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Bioresorbable silicon electronics technology offers unprecedented opportunities to deploy advanced implantable monitoring systems that eliminate risks, cost and discomfort associated with surgical extraction. Applications include postoperative monitoring and transient physiologic recording after percutaneous or minimally invasive placement of vascular, cardiac, orthopaedic, neural or other devices. We present an embodiment of these materials in both passive and actively addressed arrays of bioresorbable silicon electrodes with multiplexing capabilities, which record in vivo electrophysiological signals from the cortical surface and the subgaleal space. The devices detect normal physiologic and epileptiform activity, both in acute and chronic recordings. Comparative studies show sensor performance comparable to standard clinical systems and reduced tissue reactivity relative to conventional clinical electrocorticography (ECoG) electrodes. This technology offers general applicability in neural interfaces, with additional potential utility in treatment of disorders where transient monitoring and modulation of physiologic function, implant integrity and tissue recovery or regeneration are required.

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Figure 1: Thin, flexible neural electrode arrays with fully bioresorbable construction based on patterned silicon nanomembranes (Si NMs) as the conducting component.
Figure 2: In vivo neural recordings in rats using a passive, bioresorbable electrode array.
Figure 3: In vivo chronic recordings in rats using a passive, bioresorbable electrode array.
Figure 4: Immunohistology analysis.
Figure 5: Bioresorbable actively multiplexed neural electrode array.
Figure 6: Acute in vivo microscale electrocorticography (μECoG) with a 64-channel, bioresorbable, actively multiplexed array of measurement electrodes.

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Acknowledgements

The work was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Penn Medicine Neuroscience Center Pilot Grant, T32- Brain Injury Research Training Grant (5T32NS043126-12) and the Mirowski Family Foundation. Images in figures 2e, 3a and 6d from 3D Rat Anatomy Software (www.biosphera.org).

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Author notes

  1. Ki Jun Yu and Duygu Kuzum: These authors are contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA

    Ki Jun Yu, Sang Min Won & John A. Rogers

  2. Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA

    Ki Jun Yu, Bong Hoon Kim, Nam Heon Kim, Sang Min Won, Hui Fang, Kyung Jin Seo, Hee Nam Lee, Seung-Kyun Kang, Jae-Hwan Kim, Jung Yup Lee & John A. Rogers

  3. Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

    Duygu Kuzum, Marissa Thompson, Hank Bink & Brian Litt

  4. Center for Neuroengineering and Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

    Duygu Kuzum, Andrew G. Richardson, Marissa Thompson, Hank Bink, Frances E. Jensen, Marc A. Dichter, Timothy H. Lucas & Brian Litt

  5. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California 92093, USA

    Duygu Kuzum

  6. KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea

    Suk-Won Hwang

  7. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA

    Bong Hoon Kim, Nam Heon Kim, Hui Fang, Kyung Jin Seo, Seung-Kyun Kang, Jae-Hwan Kim & John A. Rogers

  8. Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

    Halvor Juul, Delia Talos, Frances E. Jensen, Marc A. Dichter & Brian Litt

  9. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA

    Ken Chiang, Michael Trumpis & Jonathan Viventi

  10. Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

    Andrew G. Richardson & Timothy H. Lucas

  11. Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA

    Huanyu Cheng

  12. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

    Marissa Thompson

  13. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA

    Hee Nam Lee & Jung Yup Lee

  14. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA

    Younggang Huang

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  1. Ki Jun Yu
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Contributions

K.J.Y., D.K., B.L. and J.A.R. designed the research. K.J.Y., D.K., S.-W.H., B.H.K., N.H.K., S.M.W., K.C., H.F., K.J.S., H.N.L., S.-K.K., J.-H.K. and J.Y.L. fabricated the devices and electronics. K.J.Y., D.K., S.M.W., M. Trumpis, H.F., M. Thompson, H.B., M.A.D., T.L. and J.V. conceived and performed bench tests, and analysis. D.K., K.J.Y., H.J., A.G.R., M.A.D. and T.H.L. performed in vivo experiments and analysed the data. D.T. and F.E.J. performed biocompatibility and histology studies. H.C. and Y.H. performed mechanical simulations. K.J.Y., D.K., A.G.R., M.Trumpis, J.V., B.L. and J.A.R. wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Brian Litt or John A. Rogers.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Yu, K., Kuzum, D., Hwang, SW. et al. Bioresorbable silicon electronics for transient spatiotemporal mapping of electrical activity from the cerebral cortex. Nature Mater 15, 782–791 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4624

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