All-Polymer Printed Low-Cost Regenerative Nerve Cuff Electrodes
Ferrari, Laura M. (Université Côte d'Azur)
Rodríguez-Meana, Bruno (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Bonisoli, Alberto (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna)
Cutrone, Annarita (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna)
Micera, Silvestro (École Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne)
Navarro, X. (Xavier) (Xavier) (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Greco, Francesco (Waseda University. Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering)
Del Valle, Jaume (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	Neural regeneration after lesions is still limited by several factors and new technologies are developed to address this issue. Here, we present and test in animal models a new regenerative nerve cuff electrode (RnCE). It is based on a novel low-cost fabrication strategy, called "Print and Shrink", which combines the inkjet printing of a conducting polymer with a heat-shrinkable polymer substrate for the development of a bioelectronic interface. This method allows to produce miniaturized regenerative cuff electrodes without the use of cleanroom facilities and vacuum based deposition methods, thus highly reducing the production costs. To fully proof the electrodes performance in vivo we assessed functional recovery and adequacy to support axonal regeneration after section of rat sciatic nerves and repair with RnCE. We investigated the possibility to stimulate the nerve to activate different muscles, both in acute and chronic scenarios. Three months after implantation, RnCEs were able to stimulate regenerated motor axons and induce a muscular response. The capability to produce fully-transparent nerve interfaces provided with polymeric microelectrodes through a cost-effective manufacturing process is an unexplored approach in neuroprosthesis field. Our findings pave the way to the development of new and more usable technologies for nerve regeneration and neuromodulation.
Grants:	Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PCI2018-093029 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad RD16/0011/0014 Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo CB06/05/1105
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Regenerative cuff electrodes ; Low-cost fabrication ; Inkjet printing ; Wrinkling ; Organic bioelectronics ; PEDOT:PSS ; Peripheral nerve interfaces
Published in:	Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Vol. 9 (february 2021) , ISSN 2296-4185

DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.615218
PMID: 33644015

14 p, 10.6 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Neurociències (INc)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles