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

A functional interfacial material has been developed for soft integration of bioelectronic devices with biological tissues. This has been applied in battery-free optoelectronic systems for deep-brain optogenetics and subdermal phototherapy as well as wireless millimetre-scale pacemakers and flexible multielectrode epicardial arrays. 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.

Automated summary

A functional interfacial material has been developed for soft integration of bioelectronic devices with biological tissues, offering revolutionary diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities. This material provides soft mechanical coupling and efficient optical/electrical/chemical exchange, with potential applications in a wide range of medical devices and treatment of life-threatening diseases.