Immunocompatible electronic polymers and devices for implantable sensors and stimulators that resist foreign-body responses - PROJECT SUMMARY
In recent decades, bioimplants in human bodies have been more and more routinely used in almost every
biomedical specialty, with the functions ranging from pathological and biological studies to medical treatments
and restoration of body functions. Among all the different types of bioimplants, implantable electronic devices
comprise a major category that provide highly accurate and programmed signal transductions. However, the
longevity and stability of all types of bioimplants, including electronic devices, have been facing a common
challenge, that is the excessive ingrowth of collagen and inflammation reactions around the device, which have
been known as “foreign-body response (FBR)”—a type of immune-mediated reaction on foreign/synthetic
material “invaders”. Even for the most successful, FDA-approved bioimplants that have been used for decades,
excessive FBR can be provoked in many individuals, which is the primary cause of the device failure before their
desired functional periods. For solving this commonly existing grand challenge, although a substantial amount
of efforts has been made in the development of new biomaterial designs for suppressing FBR, the research has
been almost exclusively focused on insulating-type polymers/hydrogels. To proceed to the next horizon of solving
the immune-compatibility problem for implantable electronics using the most promising material family—
electronic polymers, it is vitally important for us to develop a set of innovative material designs for electronic
polymers for concurrently achieving superior immune compatibility and high electrical property. We propose to
achieve this by intellectually addressing the extraordinary challenge of unprecedentedly interfacing immunology
with semiconductor physics and polymer sciences, and experimentally combine the approaches of polymer
synthesis, morphological engineering, device fabrication, electrical characterizations, in vitro cell tests, and in
vivo animal tests. Specifically, the focuses of this research include four aspects: 1) developing new designs of
semiconducting and conducting polymers for achieving immunocompatible chemical property; 2) developing
“hydrogel-architecture” polymer semiconductors for realizing tissue-level elastic moduli for achieving
immunocompatible physical property; 3) in vitro and in vivo study of the elicited FBR by these immunocompatible
designs of electronic polymers; 4) combining the material and device developments to realize proof-of-concept
immunocompatible devices, including electrophysiological devices, and transistor-based biochemical sensors.
Based on the highly important uses of implantable electronics, we envision the realization of immunocompatible
electronic devices from this research will create significant benefits and far-reaching impacts to a wide spectrum
of biomedical areas.
