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Enhancement-mode ion-based transistor as a comprehensive interface and real-time processing unit for in vivo electrophysiology

Nature Materials volume 19, pages 679–686 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Bioelectronic devices must be fast and sensitive to interact with the rapid, low-amplitude signals generated by neural tissue. They should also be biocompatible and soft, and should exhibit long-term stability in physiologic environments. Here, we develop an enhancement-mode, internal ion-gated organic electrochemical transistor (e-IGT) based on a reversible redox reaction and hydrated ion reservoirs within the conducting polymer channel, which enable long-term stable operation and shortened ion transit time. E-IGT transient responses depend on hole rather than ion mobility, and combine with high transconductance to result in a gain–bandwidth product that is several orders of magnitude above that of other ion-based transistors. We used these transistors to acquire a wide range of electrophysiological signals, including in vivo recording of neural action potentials, and to create soft, biocompatible, long-term implantable neural processing units for the real-time detection of epileptic discharges. E-IGTs offer a safe, reliable and high-performance building block for chronically implanted bioelectronics, with a spatiotemporal resolution at the scale of individual neurons.

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Fig. 1: Operating mechanism, structure, and steady-state characteristics of an e-IGT.
Fig. 2: PEDOT:PSS–PEI composite creates long-term, stable, volumetric capacitance for the operation of an enhancement-mode transistor.
Fig. 3: High-speed transient response of an e-IGT is a function of hole rather than ion mobility.
Fig. 4: E-IGTs have a high gain–bandwidth product and create low-leakage, effective integrated circuits.
Fig. 5: E-IGTs enable high-quality electrophysiological signal acquisition across a broad range of frequencies and amplitudes.
Fig. 6: E-IGTs in combination with d-IGTs enable real-time non-linear signal rectification for the accurate detection of epileptic discharges in vivo.

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Data availability

All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Information. All source files and experimental data are freely and publicly available at www.dion.ee.columbia.edu. Additional data related to this paper may be requested from the authors.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Columbia University, School of Engineering and Applied Science as well as Columbia University Medical Center, Department of Neurology and Institute for Genomic Medicine. The device fabrication was performed at Columbia Nano-Initiative (CNI) and at Cornell NanoScale Facility (CNF), a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), which is supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant ECCS-1542081). G.D.S. is supported through the Human Frontiers Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. This work was supported by an NIH grant (1U01NS108923-01), NSF CAREER award (1944415), CURE Taking Flight Award, Columbia School of Engineering. We thank M. Gonzalez, J. Yu, J. Vichiconti, Y. Borisenkov, P. Chow, C. Belfer, N. Ariel-Sternberg (CNI) and all Khodagholy and Gelinas laboratory members for their support.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Claudia Cea, George D. Spyropoulos.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Claudia Cea, George D. Spyropoulos, Patricia Jastrzebska-Perfect & Dion Khodagholy

  2. Institute for Genomic Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    José J. Ferrero & Jennifer N. Gelinas

  3. Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Jennifer N. Gelinas

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Contributions

D.K., J.N.G. and C.C. conceived the project. C.C., D.K., G.D.S. and P.J. designed, developed, fabricated and characterized the materials and devices. C.C. and G.D.S. fabricated the neural probes for the rodent and human recordings. C.C. and G.D.S. performed the ECG and EMG recordings. D.K., C.C., J.J.F. and J.N.G. performed the electrophysiology in vivo rodent experiments and analysis. All authors contributed to writing the paper.

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Correspondence to Jennifer N. Gelinas or Dion Khodagholy.

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Cea, C., Spyropoulos, G.D., Jastrzebska-Perfect, P. et al. Enhancement-mode ion-based transistor as a comprehensive interface and real-time processing unit for in vivo electrophysiology. Nat. Mater. 19, 679–686 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0638-3

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