Flexible and Transparent Multielectrode Arrays to Study Alzheimer's Pathology in Advanced In-Vitro Disease Models

我们对神经退行性疾病缺乏洞察力，再加上这些疾病预计会增加，可能会增加医疗系统的负担(到2050年，全球有超过1.5亿痴呆症患者)，这导致人们越来越迫切地需要努力了解这些疾病。动物生理学和人类生理学的差异已经将研究的重点转移到了新的疾病模型上，例如基于诱导多能干细胞(IPSC)的脑器官。由于其尺寸的降低，多电极阵列(MEA)被设计成能够以良好的空间和时间分辨率进行详细的表征。PEDOT：PSS MEAs由于其生物相容性、高导电性和易于设计的性质而显示出良好的结果。该项目旨在赋予传统MEA灵活性和透明性等特点，使其能够与高分辨率显微镜相结合，并能够使用准确的电生理和光学测量来研究脑有机体。为了最大限度地减少与基于聚合物的MEA的复杂相互作用对生长中的有机物质造成的潜在负面影响，建议的阵列将提供高孔隙率，确保有机物质通过气液界面实现必要的营养交换，帮助它们顺利生长。然后可以进行进一步的测量，以测量在神经退行性病变过程中发生的细胞相互作用。

Our lack of insights into neurodegenerative disorders, coupled with a projected increase in these disorders potentially increasing the load on the healthcare system (over 150 million people worldwide with dementia by 2050) has resulted in a rising sense of urgency towards conducting efforts to understand them. The differences between animal and humanphysiology have shifted the research efforts towards novel disease models, such as brain organoids based on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). Due to their reduced dimensions, multielectrode arrays (MEA) are designed to enable detailed characterizations with a good spatial and temporal resolution. PEDOT: PSS MEAs show promising results dueto their biocompatibility, high conductivity and easy to design nature. This project aims at imparting characteristics like flexibility and transparency to traditional MEAs to permit their combination with high-resolution microscopy and enable the study of brain organoids using accurate electrophysiological as well as optical measurements. To minimise potentialnegative effects onto the growing organoid induced by its complex interaction with the polymer-based MEA, the proposed arrays will provide high porosity which ensures that the organoids achieve the necessary nutrition exchange through air-liquid interfaces helping them grow without any issues. Further measurements can then be carried out tomeasure the cellular interactions taking place during neurodegenerative pathology.