posted on 2022-12-28, 15:35authored byChiara Rinoldi, Yasamin Ziai, Seyed Shahrooz Zargarian, Paweł Nakielski, Krzysztof Zembrzycki, Mohammad Ali Haghighat Bayan, Anna Beata Zakrzewska, Roberto Fiorelli, Massimiliano Lanzi, Agnieszka Kostrzewska-Księżyk, Rafał Czajkowski, Ewa Kublik, Leszek Kaczmarek, Filippo Pierini
In neuroscience, the acquisition of neural signals from
the brain
cortex is crucial to analyze brain processes, detect neurological
disorders, and offer therapeutic brain–computer interfaces.
The design of neural interfaces conformable to the brain tissue is
one of today’s major challenges since the insufficient biocompatibility
of those systems provokes a fibrotic encapsulation response, leading
to an inaccurate signal recording and tissue damage precluding long-term/permanent
implants. The design and production of a novel soft neural biointerface
made of polyacrylamide hydrogels loaded with plasmonic silver nanocubes
are reported herein. Hydrogels are surrounded by a silicon-based template
as a supporting element for guaranteeing an intimate neural-hydrogel
contact while making possible stable recordings from specific sites
in the brain cortex. The nanostructured hydrogels show superior electroconductivity
while mimicking the mechanical characteristics of the brain tissue.
Furthermore, in vitro biological tests performed
by culturing neural progenitor cells demonstrate the biocompatibility
of hydrogels along with neuronal differentiation. In vivo chronic neuroinflammation tests on a mouse model show no adverse
immune response toward the nanostructured hydrogel-based neural interface.
Additionally, electrocorticography acquisitions indicate that the
proposed platform permits long-term efficient recordings of neural
signals, revealing the suitability of the system as a chronic neural
biointerface.