Spider-silk inspires flexible electrode implant

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Scientists have taken inspiration from spider silk to develop an electrode that wraps around muscles, nerves and hearts to deliver electrical stimulation to tissues or record electrical activity.

The Singapore team behind the innovation. From left: Dr Zou Guijin, research fellow from the Institute of High Performance Computing, Agency for Science, Technology and Research; Prof Gao Huajian of NTU’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Prof Chen Xiaodong of NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering and Dr Yi Junqi, research fellow from NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering and NTU’s Institute for Digital Molecular Analytics and Science
The Singapore team behind the innovation. From left: Dr Zou Guijin, research fellow from the Institute of High Performance Computing, Agency for Science, Technology and Research; Prof Gao Huajian of NTU’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Prof Chen Xiaodong of NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering and Dr Yi Junqi, research fellow from NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering and NTU’s Institute for Digital Molecular Analytics and Science - NTU Singapore

The electrode contracts to conform to biological tissues, is non-toxic and performs better than conventional stretchable electrodes.

Led by a team from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, the innovation could lead to biomedical devices for monitoring irregular heartbeat, nerve repair, wound closure and scar reduction.

The study was led by Prof Chen Xiaodong of NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering; Prof Gao Huajian of NTU’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Prof Liu Zhiyuan from the Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Prof Hu Benhui from Nanjing Medical University. Their findings are detailed in Nature.

The electrode is made from a flexible material which contracts when wet to fit securely around tissues and organs.

Drawing inspiration from the structure of spider silk, the scientists created the material by mixing semicrystalline poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with poly(ethylene glycol)-α-cyclodextrin inclusion complex (IC). IC connects the PEO semicrystalline structures and holds them together.

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flexible electrode