Swedish scientists have been able to grow electrodes in living tissue, in this case in the brain, heart and tail fin of zebrafish. This extraordinary discovery opens the way for the integration of biocompatible electronic circuits within the body to understand and treat neurological diseases in particular.
As we know, electrodes implanted in the brain can actually relieve some pain symptomssymptoms neuralgia, and open the way for promising treatments for Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s diseaseAlzheimer’s disease. The only drawback: the contact between the electronic circuit and the biological tissue. Conventional bioelectronics rely on a fixed, static design which complicates their integration into living biological signaling systems. Obviously, electronics and living tissue are not compatible!
To remedy this inconsistency, Scientists from the universities of Linkoping, Lund and Gothenburg developed a method for dynamically creating elastic conductive materials without reactantreactant in the biological environment. Thanks to this method, it is possible to create soft, baseless, and electronically conductive materials in living tissue. For this, they injected A freezefreeze Consists ofenzymesenzymes used as ” particlesparticles From assembly “to grow electrodeselectrodes in biological tissues, in this case from zebrafish and medicinal leeches, but also in food samples (beef, pork, chicken, tofutofu).
Cocktail triggers the electrical process
More specifically, this gel consists of a oxidaseoxidase to generate hydrogen peroxidehydrogen peroxide On sitewhich is a peroxidase catalyst polymerizationpolymerization oxidant, a MonometallicMonometallic Water-soluble, polyelectrolyte conjugate with anti- tangletangle covalent and Surface tensionSurface tension to stabilize. Using this cocktail, the authors were able to induce polymerization and subsequent gel formation in various tissue environments.
Promising, even revolutionary, their findings could lead to fully integrated electronic circuits in living organisms. ” Contact with substances in the body changes the structure of the gel and makes it electrically conductive, which was not the case before the injection. Depending on the fabric, we can also adjust the composition of the gel to trigger the electric process, Xenofon Strakosas explainsa researcher at LOE and Lund University.
Chemicals Self-growingSelf-growing produced by the body are sufficient to cause the electrodes to twist and, unlike other experiments of the same type, no modifications are necessary HereditaryHereditary Or use external signals such as a lighta light or theenergyenergy electrical. These same scientists also showed that this method can target materialmaterial An electronic conductor on specific biological infrastructures, thus creating interfaces from EnergizingEnergizing appropriate nervous.
No side effects
In their experiment, the researchers succeeded in forming electrodes in brainbrainand the heart and caudal fin of zebrafish, as well as around the nervous tissue of medicinal leeches. Which means that eventually it may be possible to create integrated electronic circuits inside living organisms.
Even better, the formation of the electrodes within the tissues had no effect on the animals, nor did the injected gel. ” By making smart changes to chemistrychemistrywe were able to develop electrodes acceptable by brain tissue f immune systemimmune system. Zebrafish is an excellent model for studying organic electrodes in the brain,” Professor Roger Olsson of the Lund University School of Medicine concludes.
“Evil thinker. Music scholar. Hipster-friendly communicator. Bacon geek. Amateur internet enthusiast. Introvert.”