A biodegradable paper that can deliver wireless electrical stimulation to the brain could revolutionise the treatment of neurological diseases.
The ‘bio-paper’ implant sticks to the brain’s surface like a plaster to deliver the stimulation. After two months, it was almost wholly biodegraded.
Therapies that deliver electrical stimulation to the brain to treat neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are effective.
To deliver this deep brain stimulation (DBS), electrodes are implanted in areas of the brain through small holes drilled in the skull. A pacemaker-like device is also inserted under the skin of the chest to power the electrodes.
Inserting electrodes into the brain has risks, one is that the leads carrying those electrodes can be misplaced, migrate, or break.
Researchers from the Uhlan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea have developed a biodegradable, wirelessly activated ‘bio-paper’ implant that avoids these issues.
Lead author Jun Kyu Choe from UNIST’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering said, ‘The developed material offers personalised treatment options tailored to individual needs and physical characteristics, simplifying treatment processes and enhancing flexibility and versatility in electrical stimulation-based clinical applications.’
The material comprises synthesised magnetoelectric nanoparticles (MENs), which have a magnetostrictive core and a piezoelectric shell and can generate an electric field when an external magnetic field is applied.
The core converts the applied magnetic field into mechanical strain, which the piezoelectric shell converts into an electric field.
The core-shell MENs are integrated into electrospun biodegradable nanofibers to produce a flexible, lightweight sheet that is paper-like, porous and biodegradable.
The material’s porosity ensures that important small molecules like oxygen and nutrients can pass through it.
The researchers added: ‘The combination of nanoscale magnetoelectric and biodegradable fibrous materials offers advantages over traditional system-level wireless electronic devices that rely on intricate assembly of bulky components that cannot be redesigned post-fabrication.’
