Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Soft Organic Electrochemical Neurons for Biochemical Sensing and Delivery

Project description

Advanced organic electrochemical neurons

Prosthetics and brain-computer interfaces operate by interfacing with biological systems, necessitating seamless bio-integration. To facilitate this interaction, organic electrochemical neurons (OECNs) have been developed that emulate biological neurons, generating biorealistic spikes with ion-tunable features. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the S-OECN project aims to advance OECN technology. Its primary goals include the manufacturing of OECNs with less rigidity, more flexible bio-integration and better biochemical sensing capacity. This next generation of OECNs will advance the field of bioelectronics and neural interfacing by facilitating enhanced communication with biological systems.

Objective

Recent advancements in prosthetics, brain-computer interfaces, and neural therapy require electronics that communicate with biological systems. However, electronic circuits manipulate 1/0 binary digits, whereas biological neurons function with ion flux-induced neural spikes. To emulate biological neuron functions in hardware implementations, artificial neurons have been developed using inorganic memristors or transistors, but they have failed to integrate with biotic neurons due to their high operating voltage and inherent inertness towards ion/neurotransmitter-based modulation. In this regard, organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) distinguish themselves by using ionic species to mediate electron/hole conductance in organic semiconductors, making them the ideal candidate for fabricating organic electrochemical neurons (OECNs) with high biocompatibility and biochemical-mediated functionalities. So far, OECNs have been demonstrated by the project host (Prof. Simone Fabiano at Linköping University) with the capability to emulate biorealistic spiking patterns, response to exogenous ions or neurotransmitters for spiking modality alternation, and perform event-based neuron stimulation in animal models. However, existing OECNs still face two major limitations that impede their integration with biological nerves, including their rigidity and incapable of performing endogenous biochemical sensing and modulation with biotic neurons. To exploit the advantages of OECNs for bio-integration and bidirectional communication, I will use my expertise in soft materials, devices, and systems to devise OECNs with tissue-like softness, monolithic assembly, and seamless integration with biological nerves. Specifically, stretchable organic semiconductors and other soft constituent materials will be synthesized and prepared; soft OECTs and OECNs that operate stably under mechanical deformation will be devised; soft biochemical sensing and delivery functions will be incorporated.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

LINKOPINGS UNIVERSITET
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 222 727,68
Address
CAMPUS VALLA
581 83 Linkoping
Sweden

See on map

Region
Östra Sverige Östra Mellansverige Östergötlands län
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Partners (1)

My booklet 0 0