CAREER: Implantable multimodal bioelectronics for high-performance gastrointestinal monitoring and modulation

神经系统疾病影响着全世界1亿多人的生活质量。历史上，神经系统疾病被认为是一种以大脑为中心的过程。然而，最近的研究发现，胃肠道中的生理生化因素也会影响中枢神经系统，即所谓的肠脑轴的功能。尽管它很重要，但人们对胃肠道中这些生理生化因素在何时何地以及如何调节大脑的各种行为输出的理解有限。这在一定程度上是因为可用于胃肠道中各种信息的高性能调制和监测的技术有限。该项目将通过提供急需的技术，为了解肠-脑双向通信和相关神经系统疾病开辟一条新的途径。该研究将与神经科学社区密切互动，并积极将技术从研究台中转化为商业化。该教育项目将吸引少数族裔和女性学生从事生物电子学研究。本项目旨在研究一套用于自由运动小动物模型胃肠道的高性能调节和监测的基础材料、设备设计和系统集成问题。本项目包括三个研究目标：(1)开发用于胃肠道监测的软生理生化传感器；(2)研究一类新型器件封装材料的水和离子输运特性；(3)建立并验证用于高性能胃肠道监测和调制的无线多模态生物电子系统。这项研究将大大提高我们目前有限的设计和开发多模态生物电子学的知识，用于胃肠道的高性能调制和生理生化监测。生物电子学的设计和新知识可以扩展到其他领域，包括伤口愈合、心脏健康和泌尿道疾病的生物电子学，这些领域需要连续监测和调制。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Neurological disorders affect the quality of life of more than 100 million people worldwide. Historically, neurological disorders were viewed as brain-centric processes. Recent studies, however, have found that the physiological and biochemical factors in the gastrointestinal tract also influence the function of the central nervous system, so-called gut-brain axis. Despite its importance, there is a limited understanding of where, when, and how these physiological and biochemical factors in the gastrointestinal tract modulate diverse behavioral outputs of the brain. This is, in part, because of the limited technologies available for the high-performance modulation and monitoring of various information in the gastrointestinal tract. This project will create a new route to understand gut-brain bidirectional communication and associated neurological disorders by providing urgently needed technologies. The research will closely interact with the neuroscience community and actively translate the technology from the research bench to commercialization. The education program will attract underrepresented minorities and female students for bioelectronics research.This project aims to investigate a set of foundational materials, device design, and system integration problems for high-performance modulation and monitoring in the gastrointestinal tract of freely moving small animal models. This project includes three research objectives: (1) develop soft physiological and biochemical sensors for gastrointestinal monitoring, (2) study the water and ion transport properties of a new class of device encapsulation materials, and (3) establish and validate a wireless multimodal bioelectronic system for high-performance gastrointestinal monitoring and modulation. The research will significantly advance our currently limited knowledge of the design and development of multimodal bioelectronics for high-performance modulation and physiological and biochemical monitoring in the gastrointestinal tract. The bioelectronics design and new knowledge are expandable to other fields, including bioelectronics for wound healing, cardiac health, and urinary tract diseases, where continuous monitoring and modulation are needed.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.