Gallium Based Mechanically Adaptable Microelectrode Arrays

项目摘要：下一代机械适应性微电极 植入式微电极是了解基本电生理学的重要工具。虽然 在过去的几十年中，在电极设计方面已经取得了相当大的进展， 设备仍然不能在生理环境中长时间保持其功能， 失效与电极和组织的机械性能之间的惊人的不匹配有关。 在柔性可植入电极的开发中已经进行了大量的研究工作。然而，在这方面， 柔性电极将在插入过程中弯曲 组织插入的并发症已经显著阻碍了柔性组织的实际使用。 植入式电极在这个项目中，我们将采取创新的材料方法来开发一种新的 在室温和生理温度之间的温度响应和机械适应性微电极 温度我们将利用镓独特的热/机械/电特性来设计一种 机械适应性电极阵列。镓在1个大气压下具有29.36 °C的独特熔点。 这表明镓在室温下是刚性固体（杨氏模量为10 GPa），而在室温下是液体（没有 机械强度）。我们的目标是开发一种热拉伸工艺， 镓/聚合物核壳结构，组装成微电极阵列。我们将评估 的机械性能、电化学性能、体内信号记录能力和生物相容性。 镓基微电极阵列。

Project Summary: Next Generation Mechanically Adaptable Microelectrode Implantable microelectrodes are essential tools for understanding basic electrophysiology. Although considerable progress has been made in the past several decades in terms of electrode design, the current devices are still unable to retain their functionalities in a physiological environment over long periods, due to failure is related to the staggering mismatch between the mechanical properties of the electrodes and tissue. There have been significant research efforts in the development of flexible implantable electrodes. However, the flexible electrode will buckle during insertion and require rigid shuttle/coating to penetrate the targeted issue The complications of tissue insertion has significantly hindered the practical usage of the flexible implantable electrodes. In this project, we will take an innovative material approach to develop a new class of thermo-responsive and mechanically adaptable microelectrode between room temperature and physiological temperature. We will harness the unique thermal/mechanical/electrical properties of gallium to design a mechanically adaptable electrode array. Gallium has a unique melting point of 29.36 °C at 1 atm pressure. This indicates gallium will be a rigid solid at room temperature (Young's modulus of 10 GPa) and a liquid (no mechanical strength) at body temperature. We aim to develop a thermal drawing process to create gallium/polymer core-shell structure and assemble the structures into microelectrode array. We will assess the mechanical properties, electrochemical performance, in vivo signal recording ability, and biocompatibility of the gallium-based microelectrode arrays.