Guest Lecture by Simon BinderHydrogels in Microsystems: From Blood Glucose Sensors to Neural Implants
Do you wear contact lenses or have you ever eaten a gummy bear? If so, then you have already come into contact with a group of materials that are used in miniaturized biomedical systems. These materials are swellable polymers, also known as hydrogels. They can be used in sensors to measure glucose, salinity or complex biomarkers but they can also serve as artificial tissue in biohybrid neural implants.
The talk "Hydrogels in Microsystems" explains in more detail how hydrogel-based sensors work. Different ways in which a hydrogel’s response can be transduced into an electrical signal will be demonstrated. The sensors presented are intended to be used in medical applications such as drug monitoring or blood glucose measurements. Both a point-of-care setup and a subcutaneous implant will be shown. The focus will then shift to another implantable microsystem in which hydrogels are being used: Neural implants for the brain-computer-interface. Starting from the “Utah Array” neural implant, we will take a closer look into how a biohybrid version of such an implant can be realized. In this biohybrid approach, cultured cells and a cell-growth enhancing hydrogel scaffold are jointly embedded within the implant. After implantation, the neural implant is intended to integrate itself into the brain tissue. The approach is expected to result in both improved implant acceptance and increased spatial resolution of the recorded neural activity. In this context, research objectives of the Carl Zeiss Nexus group, which will be established at the University of Freiburg from next year on, will be highlighted.
More about Simon Binder and his CZS Group Soft Matter Microsystems at www.carl-zeiss-stiftung.de/themen-projekte/uebersicht-projekte/detail/biohybride-neuroimplantate-basierend-auf-weichen-hydrogel-elektroden
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