Neuroprosthetic technologies restore functions of the nervous system affected by injury or disease. They are often implantable electronic devices that establish communication between brain and machine. Future implants are likely to be multi-modal (enabled in the biochemical, optical, thermal and mechanical domains) personalised and seamlessly integrated in tissues. Bioelectronic implants can be applied where injury or degeneration have resulted in chronic disability. They can become an alternative strategy for treating epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, acute and chronic neurotrauma, where presently only systemic pharmacological or surgical approaches exist.
In the IntegraBrain project, additive fabrication combined with soft functional inks enabled us to demonstrate multimodal sensor-actuator-arrays. We printed arrays of electrodes, optical fibres and microfluidics enabling electrical recording, optogenetic stimulation and drug delivery in cell cultures. We demonstrated a highly integrated implant that is capable of delivering focal cooling, recording biopotentials and handling liquids in microfluidics, fabricated using additive fabrication (printing) and discrete electronic elements. In a third example we printed sensors on textile for detecting electromyographic signals from muscles, hand forces and joint angles. We tested the developed technologies in living systems ranging from cell cultures, a rat model of epilepsy (focal cooling for seizure suppression) to healthy human volunteers (sensorized glove). Overall, we demonstrated the great potential for additive fabrication and made significant progress towards the integration of multimodal systems for neuromodulation.
