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

神经系统疾病影响全球1亿多人的生活质量。从历史上看，神经障碍被视为以大脑为中心的过程。然而，最近的研究发现，胃肠道中的生理和生化因素也会影响中枢神经系统的功能，即所谓的肠脑轴。尽管它很重要，但对于胃肠道中的这些生理和生化因素在哪里、何时以及如何调节大脑的不同行为输出，人们的了解有限。这在一定程度上是因为可用于高性能调制和监测胃肠道中各种信息的技术有限。该项目将通过提供急需的技术，为了解肠道-大脑双向交流和相关的神经疾病创造一条新的途径。这项研究将与神经科学界密切互动，并积极将技术从研究平台转化为商业化。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。该项目旨在研究一套基础材料、设备设计和系统集成问题，以实现自由活动小动物模型胃肠道的高性能调节和监测。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)研究新型设备封装材料的水和离子传输特性；(3)建立并验证用于高性能胃肠监测和调制的无线多模生物电子系统。这项研究将极大地提高我们目前对用于胃肠道高性能调节和生理生化监测的多模式生物电子学的设计和开发的有限知识。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、心脏健康和尿路疾病的生物电子学，这些领域需要持续的监测和调整。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.