ORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR NANOTUBES FOR ELECTROCHEMICAL BIOELECTRONICS AND BIOSENSORS WITH TUNABLE DYNAMICS

Recent advances in neuroscience have enabled the exploration of brain activity and neural disorders and allowed understanding of its mechanisms down to the microscopic level. Neural recording technologies have remarkably contributed to this understanding by revealing neuron activities and functional connectivity. Here, for the first time, we propose a novel flexible neural microelectrode based on conjugated polymer actuators as a proof of concept for development of movable and implantable neural interface devices for modulating the position of electrode sites within brain tissue or guiding insertion of neural probes along curved trajectories. The actuation of polypyrrole nanofibers/nanotubes (PPy NFs/NTs) doped with polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) is utilized for articulating flexible neural probes with multiple movable projections employed in the cerebral environment. Bilayer beam projections composed of structural a photoresist (SU-8) layer, chromium and gold (Cr/Au) contact traces, and electroactive layer of PPy NFs/NTs were electrochemically actuated through cyclic voltammetry in artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF). The electrochemical properties and actuation performance of the projections of varying length coated with PPy NFs/NTs were investigated at various cyclic voltammetry (CV) scan rates in aCSF electrolyte.

App TypeCase No.CountryPatent/Publication No.
InquireNon Provisional2021-063United StatesUS-2023-0028081-A1