Issue 36, 2024

Injectable conductive hydrogel electrodes for minimally invasive neural interfaces

Abstract

Soft bioelectronic neural interfaces have great potential as mechanically favourable alternatives to implantable metal electrodes. In this pursuit, conductive hydrogels (CHs) are particularly viable, combining tissue compliance with the required electrochemical characteristics. Physically-aggregated CHs offer an additional advantage by their facile synthesis into injectable systems, enabling minimally invasive implantation, though they can be impeded by a lack of control over their particle size and packing. Guided by these principles, an injectable PEDOT:PSS/acetic acid-based hydrogel is presented herein whose mechanical and electrochemical properties are independently tuneable by modifying the relative acetic acid composition. The fabrication process further benefits from employing batch emulsion to decrease particle sizes and facilitate tighter packing. The resulting material is stable and anatomically compact upon injection both in tissue phantom and ex vivo, while retaining favourable electrochemical properties in both contexts. Biphasic current stimulation yielding voltage transients well below the charge injection limit as well as the gel's non-cytotoxicity further underscore its potential for safe and effective neural interfacing applications.

Graphical abstract: Injectable conductive hydrogel electrodes for minimally invasive neural interfaces

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
30 Mar 2024
Accepted
22 Jul 2024
First published
30 Jul 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2024,12, 8929-8940

Injectable conductive hydrogel electrodes for minimally invasive neural interfaces

I. Kusen, A. Lee, E. A. Cuttaz, Z. K. Bailey, J. Killilea, S. M. Aslie, J. A. Goding and R. A. Green, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2024, 12, 8929 DOI: 10.1039/D4TB00679H

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