Microelectrodes for implantation in the brain: training on rabbits
This rabbit, the size of a bacterium, could be the future of brain implants
DailyTechInfo based on Popular Science: This Bacterium-Sized Bunny Could Be The Future Of Bionic BrainsThe rabbit figurine, which can be seen in the picture shown here, has a size comparable to the size of most bacterial species.
It is made of a new type of conductive polymer material developed by Japanese physicists and chemists from Yokohama National University, Tokyo Institute of Technology and C-MET. The unique properties of the new material make it possible to make complex three-dimensional structures with high electrical conductivity from it, which can make them a very important component of future electronic devices implanted in the human brain.
Recently, for the treatment of certain types of psychological diseases associated with the malfunction of certain parts of the brain, such as epilepsy, depression, Parkinson's disease, implants, electronic devices that produce electrical impulses that excite certain nerve circuits, brain areas, are increasingly being used, which makes it possible to normalize their activity. One of the important components of such implants are electrodes and electrode arrays, which serve to transmit electrical impulses to nerve tissues. To ensure the most reliable and high-quality electrical contact with the nervous tissue, electrodes of complex shape should be used, and not tiny straight metal needles, which are now used in most cases.
The creation of electrodes of complex shape from metals is practically impossible or extremely expensive due to the difficulties of machining on such a small scale. Therefore, polymer materials with a special composition are most often used. Having given the future polymer electrode the necessary shape, it is exposed to high temperature. Such a process of polymerization and "coking" turns the surface of the electrode into carbon, which has a high electrical conductivity, but such treatment violates the shape of the electrode, deforming its surface.
To solve the problem associated with heat treatment, researchers have developed a new composition of a polymer material that contains a high percentage of resorcinol diglycidyl ether (resorcinol diglycidyl ether), which is used as a solvent for other polymer materials. In addition, the ether has high photosensitive properties and its presence allows the polymer material to maintain its shape as accurately as possible while being processed. This means that researchers can create tiny complex structures, which they have demonstrated by recreating a microscopic rabbit figurine in every detail.
A group of Japanese scientists have tried many different methods of final processing of tiny structures made of a new polymer material, including exposure to high temperature, ultraviolet light and laser beams. They found that the latter method turned out to be the most suitable and universal due to the fact that using the same laser, layer by layer using the laser lithography method, the shape of the future electrode is created from a soft, almost liquid, initial polymer material.
According to the researchers, such technology can be successfully used not only for the manufacture of medical implant electrodes. With the help of such technology, it will be possible to manufacture microscopic inductors, heating elements and conductive parts of microelectromechanical systems with a wide range of applications.
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