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Three-dimensional macroporous nanoelectronic networks as minimally invasive brain probes

Nature Materials volume 14, pages 1286–1292 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Direct electrical recording and stimulation of neural activity using micro-fabricated silicon and metal micro-wire probes have contributed extensively to basic neuroscience and therapeutic applications; however, the dimensional and mechanical mismatch of these probes with the brain tissue limits their stability in chronic implants and decreases the neuron–device contact. Here, we demonstrate the realization of a three-dimensional macroporous nanoelectronic brain probe that combines ultra-flexibility and subcellular feature sizes to overcome these limitations. Built-in strains controlling the local geometry of the macroporous devices are designed to optimize the neuron/probe interface and to promote integration with the brain tissue while introducing minimal mechanical perturbation. The ultra-flexible probes were implanted frozen into rodent brains and used to record multiplexed local field potentials and single-unit action potentials from the somatosensory cortex. Significantly, histology analysis revealed filling-in of neural tissue through the macroporous network and attractive neuron–probe interactions, consistent with long-term biocompatibility of the device.

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Figure 1: Macroporous nanoelectronic 3D neural probes.
Figure 2: Probe preparation and robustness.
Figure 3: Neural activity recording from rodent models.
Figure 4: Implanted macroporous nanoelectronic probe–tissue histology.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Tian for help and discussions on animal surgeries. This study was supported by Air Force Office of Scientific Research and NSSEFF awards (C.M.L.).

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Author notes

  1. Chong Xie, Jia Liu and Tian-Ming Fu: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

    Chong Xie, Jia Liu, Tian-Ming Fu, Xiaochuan Dai, Wei Zhou & Charles M. Lieber

  2. John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

    Charles M. Lieber

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  1. Chong Xie
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  2. Jia Liu
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  4. Xiaochuan Dai
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Contributions

C.X., J.L. and C.M.L. conceived the idea and designed the experiments. C.X., J.L., T.-M.F., X.D. and W.Z. performed the experiments and analyses. C.X. and C.M.L. wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results, interpreted the findings and reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chong Xie, Jia Liu, Tian-Ming Fu or Charles M. Lieber.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Xie, C., Liu, J., Fu, TM. et al. Three-dimensional macroporous nanoelectronic networks as minimally invasive brain probes. Nature Mater 14, 1286–1292 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4427

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