Conducting Polymer Devices for Neural Interfacing (Printed Electronics USA 2014)

Recording and stimulation of brain activity is critical for clinical and fundamental electrophysiology for applications in deep brain stimulation/recording to treat epilepsy, Parkinson disease, depression, etc, functional mapping of the brain, and brain-machine interfaces.

• We developed transistors based on conducting polymers that show high gain, robustness to mechanical deformation, and compatibility with living neural tissue.

• We use these transistors to record low frequency physiological and pathological rhythms and signals, as well as high frequency action potentials, and show that the active device nature constitutes a better tool for disease diagnosis and treatment than passive electrodes.

• We show that the same device can be utilized for both stimulation and recording when implanted into living tissue.

• By tailoring device layout and geometry, as well as materials we demonstrate how such conducting polymer devices can be transitioned to clinical settings where long term recordings are required.

Jonathan Rivnay received his B.S. in Materials Science from Cornell University in 2006 and his Ph.D. in Materials Science from Stanford University in 2012. His doctoral research in the lab of Prof. Alberto Salleo focused on structure/property relations and the role of defects and disorder on charge transport in organic semiconductors. Jonathan then moved to the Department of Bioelectronics (BEL) at the Centre Microélectronique de Provence (Gardanne, France), where he is a Marie Curie fellow. His current interests include polymeric electrochemical devices for clinical and diagnostic applications, with a focus on devices for neural interfacing.

The Department of Bioelectronics (BEL) was established in 2009 in the Microelectronics Centre of Provence, which is one of the six education and research centers of the Ecole des Mines de St. Etienne. The vision of BEL is "to become an internationally renowned Department in which bioelectronic technologies are generated through better understanding and control of the electronics/tissue interface, and which provides outstanding education opportunities in this rapidly evolving field". There are three axes of research in BEL: Tools for neuroscience ; Biosensors for diagnostics, toxicology and drug discovery ; and Devices that control cell adhesion and function.