'Cyborg' technology could enable new diagnostics, merger of humans and
AI

Date:
August 17, 2020
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
Although true 'cyborgs' are science fiction, researchers are
moving toward integrating electronics with the body. Such devices
could monitor tumors or replace damaged tissues. But connecting
electronics directly to human tissues in the body is a huge
challenge. Today, a team is reporting new coatings for components
that could help them more easily fit into this environment.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Although true "cyborgs" -- part human, part robotic beings -- are science fiction, researchers are taking steps toward integrating electronics with
the body. Such devices could monitor for tumor development or stand in
for damaged tissues. But connecting electronics directly to human tissues
in the body is a huge challenge. Now, a team is reporting new coatings
for components that could help them more easily fit into this environment.


==========================================================================
The researchers will present their results today at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting & Expo.

"We got the idea for this project because we were trying to interface
rigid, inorganic microelectrodes with the brain, but brains are made
out of organic, salty, live materials," says David Martin, Ph.D., who
led the study. "It wasn't working well, so we thought there must be a
better way." Traditional microelectronic materials, such as silicon,
gold, stainless steel and iridium, cause scarring when implanted. For applications in muscle or brain tissue, electrical signals need to flow
for them to operate properly, but scars interrupt this activity. The researchers reasoned that a coating could help.

"We started looking at organic electronic materials like conjugated
polymers that were being used in non-biological devices," says Martin, who
is at the University of Delaware. "We found a chemically stable example
that was sold commercially as an antistatic coating for electronic
displays." After testing, the researchers found that the polymer had
the properties necessary for interfacing hardware and human tissue.

"These conjugated polymers are electrically active, but they are also
ionically active," Martin says. "Counter ions give them the charge they
need so when they are in operation, both electrons and ions are moving
around." The polymer, known as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) or PEDOT, dramatically improved the performance of medical implants by lowering
their impedance two to three orders of magnitude, thus increasing signal quality and battery lifetime in patients.

Martin has since determined how to specialize the polymer, putting
different functional groups on PEDOT. Adding a carboxylic acid, aldehyde
or maleimide substituent to the ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) monomer
gives the researchers the versatility to create polymers with a variety
of functions.

"The maleimide is particularly powerful because we can do click chemistry substitutions to make functionalized polymers and biopolymers," Martin
says.

Mixing unsubstituted monomer with the maleimide-substituted version
results in a material with many locations where the team can attach
peptides, antibodies or DNA. "Name your favorite biomolecule, and you
can in principle make a PEDOT film that has whatever biofunctional group
you might be interested in," he says.

Most recently, Martin's group created a PEDOT film with an antibody for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) attached. VEGF stimulates blood vessel growth after injury, and tumors hijack this protein to increase
their blood supply. The polymer that the team developed could act as a
sensor to detect overexpression of VEGF and thus early stages of disease,
among other potential applications.

Other functionalized polymers have neurotransmitters on them, and these
films could help sense or treat brain or nervous system disorders. So
far, the team has made a polymer with dopamine, which plays a role in
addictive behaviors, as well as dopamine-functionalized variants of the
EDOT monomer. Martin says these biological-synthetic hybrid materials
might someday be useful in merging artificial intelligence with the
human brain.

Ultimately, Martin says, his dream is to be able to tailor how these
materials deposit on a surface and then to put them in tissue in a
living organism. "The ability to do the polymerization in a controlled
way inside a living organism would be fascinating."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Chemical_Society. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


==========================================================================


Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200817104315.htm

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