Flexible electrode and nanostructure. Courtesy: CC-BY-NC
A team of
researchers coordinated from the institute IMDEA Nanociencia have designed
flexible thin metal electrodes with nanotopography that could be a solution.
The proposed electrode surface is nanostructured by arrays of vertical metallic
nanowires to improve performance by reducing impedance and more intimately
interfacing individual neurons with respect to conventional flat electrodes.
These electrodes can be easily integrated over the surface of already existent
neural interfaces for chronic implantation, minimizing the risk of foreign body
reactions and long-term glial encapsulation, and thus prolonging the life of
medical implants.
The
electrodes could find application in technologies for neurodegenerative
diseases. The majority of neural diseases are chronic or degenerative and
produce very important cognitive and motor disabilities. Electrodes with
particular characteristics are needed to study the neural system and to
interact with it, in the search for knowledge and therapies. Lucas Pérez,
co-author of the publication and researcher at IMDEA Nanociencia says:
"What we have developed is a novel approach to fabricate nanostructured
electrodes, easy to fabricate and integrate, that combine all the expected
properties for neural electrodes: flexible, robust, with low impedance and
reduced invasiveness." María Concepción Serrano, co-author and researcher
at ICMM-CSIC adds: "With a designed architecture at dimensions closer to
those of cell components, these electrodes demonstrate good responses from
neural cells, including the application of electrical stimulation, opening the
pathway to eventual therapeutic uses for neural tissue stimulation and/or
regeneration."
Neural
diseases such as spinal cord injury would be a clear target for the therapeutic
application of these electrodes. "We need a better understanding of our
neural system; we need tools to interact—to speak—with the neurons and this is
what we are looking for. In the short term, we believe we can improve the
performance of the electrodes currently used in neurology. In the future—let's
dream—we would like to develop a bypass for spinal cord injuries," Dr.
Pérez says. Enhancing the efficiency and biocompatibility of the electrodes
will facilitate and extend their use for treating neural diseases and for
developing brain-machine interfaces.