Photocurable bioresorbable adhesives as functional interfaces between flexible bioelectronic devices and soft biological tissues

Quansan Yang; Tong Wei; Rose T Yin; Mingzheng Wu; Yameng Xu; Jahyun Koo; Yeon Sik Choi; Zhaoqian Xie; Sheena W Chen; Irawati Kandela; Shenglian Yao; Yujun Deng; Raudel Avila; Tzu-Li Liu; Wubin Bai; Yiyuan Yang; Mengdi Han; Qihui Zhang; Chad R Haney; K Benjamin Lee; Kedar Aras; Tong Wang; Min-Ho Seo; Haiwen Luan; Seung Min Lee; Anlil Brikha; Nayereh Ghoreishi-Haack; Lori Tran; Iwona Stepien; Fraser Aird; Emily A Waters; Xinge Yu; Anthony Banks; Gregory D Trachiotis; John M Torkelson; Yonggang Huang; Yevgenia Kozorovitskiy; Igor R Efimov; John A Rogers

doi:10.1038/s41563-021-01051-x

Photocurable bioresorbable adhesives as functional interfaces between flexible bioelectronic devices and soft biological tissues

Nat Mater. 2021 Nov;20(11):1559-1570. doi: 10.1038/s41563-021-01051-x. Epub 2021 Jul 29.

Authors

Quansan Yang^#^{1

2

3}, Tong Wei^#⁴, Rose T Yin^#⁵, Mingzheng Wu^#⁶, Yameng Xu^#^{7

8}, Jahyun Koo⁹, Yeon Sik Choi^{1

2

7}, Zhaoqian Xie^{10

11

12}, Sheena W Chen¹³, Irawati Kandela^{14

15}, Shenglian Yao¹⁶, Yujun Deng^{3

17}, Raudel Avila³, Tzu-Li Liu³, Wubin Bai^{1

2

7

18}, Yiyuan Yang^{1

2

3}, Mengdi Han^{1

2}, Qihui Zhang⁷, Chad R Haney^{15

19

20}, K Benjamin Lee¹³, Kedar Aras⁵, Tong Wang⁴, Min-Ho Seo^{1

2

7

21}, Haiwen Luan^{1

2

3}, Seung Min Lee⁷, Anlil Brikha^{15

19}, Nayereh Ghoreishi-Haack¹⁴, Lori Tran^{14

15}, Iwona Stepien^{14

15}, Fraser Aird¹⁵, Emily A Waters^{15

19

20}, Xinge Yu²², Anthony Banks^{1

2}, Gregory D Trachiotis^{5

23}, John M Torkelson^{4

7}, Yonggang Huang^{1

3

7

24}, Yevgenia Kozorovitskiy^{25

26}, Igor R Efimov²⁷, John A Rogers^{28

29

30

31

32

33}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
² Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁴ Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
⁶ Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁷ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁸ The Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
⁹ School of Biomedical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
¹⁰ State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis for Industrial Equipment, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China.
¹¹ Department of Engineering Mechanics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China.
¹² Ningbo Institute of Dalian University of Technology, Ningbo, China.
¹³ Department of Surgery, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁴ Developmental Therapeutics Core, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
¹⁵ Chemistry Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
¹⁶ School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China.
¹⁷ State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
¹⁸ Department of Applied Physical Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
¹⁹ Center for Advanced Molecular Imaging, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
²⁰ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
²¹ School of Biomedical Convergence Engineering, College of Information & Biomedical Engineering, Pusan National University, Pusan, Republic of Korea.
²² Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
²³ DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
²⁴ Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
²⁵ Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. yevgenia.kozorovitskiy@northwestern.edu.
²⁶ Chemistry Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. yevgenia.kozorovitskiy@northwestern.edu.
²⁷ Department of Biomedical Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. efimov@gwu.edu.
²⁸ Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
²⁹ Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
³⁰ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
³¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
³² Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
³³ Department of Neurological Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Flexible electronic/optoelectronic systems that can intimately integrate onto the surfaces of vital organ systems have the potential to offer revolutionary diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities relevant to a wide spectrum of diseases and disorders. The critical interfaces between such technologies and living tissues must provide soft mechanical coupling and efficient optical/electrical/chemical exchange. Here, we introduce a functional adhesive bioelectronic-tissue interface material, in the forms of mechanically compliant, electrically conductive, and optically transparent encapsulating coatings, interfacial layers or supporting matrices. These materials strongly bond both to the surfaces of the devices and to those of different internal organs, with stable adhesion for several days to months, in chemistries that can be tailored to bioresorb at controlled rates. Experimental demonstrations in live animal models include device applications that range from battery-free optoelectronic systems for deep-brain optogenetics and subdermal phototherapy to wireless millimetre-scale pacemakers and flexible multielectrode epicardial arrays. These advances have immediate applicability across nearly all types of bioelectronic/optoelectronic system currently used in animal model studies, and they also have the potential for future treatment of life-threatening diseases and disorders in humans.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Absorbable Implants*
Adhesives*
Animals
Electric Conductivity
Electronics

Substances

Adhesives

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding