Peripheral Nervous System Modulation with Wireless Cellular Sized Freestanding Injectable Devices

Abstract

Designing novel neural interfaces is essential for various medical applications, scientific research, and human augmentation. One of the foundations of neural interface and bioelectronic medicine is the electrical stimulation of excitable cells, to interface the body with electronics and treat a variety of diseases. Current technologies, while efficacious, are limited by their bulkiness, require highly invasive surgeries, are unable to target at single-cell level resolution and are prone to foreign body reactions. Optogenetics can address these issues but fundamentally requires genetic modifications which makes it difficult to implement in-vivo and has issues of muscle atrophy and toxicity specifically in the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS).

This work aims to advance bioelectronic medicine by developing efficient, wireless, cellular- sized electronic devices that can be administered in a drug-like fashion. These innovative, substrate-free nanoelectronic devices, termed injectable electronics, can be activated, and controlled using near-infrared (NIR) light, enabling minimally invasive, targeted neuromodulation deep within the peripheral nervous system (PNS). By overcoming the limitations of current implantable devices, this groundbreaking approach has the potential to transform the way we diagnose and treat a wide range of neurological disorders.