Transient electronics for edible neuroprosthetics

Transient electronics is a recent challenging research field aiming at the realization of functional electronic devices able to disappear in a controlled and predefined manner. Amongst different applications, biomedical devices based on transient technology have raised a lot of interest. Their ability to dissolve within the biological environment, thus avoiding infections due to a prolonged stay and risks related to surgical retrieval, is their main appealing characteristic. In many cases the device relies on silicon-based electronics, but the incorporation of polymers in the design, mostly as flexible substrate or for drug-release purposes, is becoming more and more exploited. Due to the intrinsic versatility of polymeric materials, which potentially allow for a great variety of customized application and fabrication techniques, fully polymer-based transient electronic devices represent the natural step forward in this research area. We therefore intend to contribute to the progress in the field of transient electronics by fabricating probes for neural signal recording based on biocompatible and biodegradable polymers, both as substrate and active material, thus introducing the edible neuroprosthetics concept. In the specific case, we relied on Polycaprolactone (PCL) or Poly Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA) as substrate and Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (Pedot:PSS) as conductive conjugated polymer. With these materials as building blocks, a series of passive neural probes were fabricated and implanted in mice brains (visual cortex area) to assess their in-vivo durability. Several time-points (1, 3, 6 and 9 months) have been established for the implants analysis in order to have a better comprehension of the degradation process within the biological environment and the response of the biological environment itself to the insertion of an external object. Preliminary results show that after one month of implantation the astrocytes are visibly activated as expected, whereas there is no evidence of activated microglia. In the near future, implantation of active neural probes will give insight also on the recording capacity of the devices

Photovoltaic stimulation of retinal ganglion cells with wide-field epiretinal prosthesis

Retinal prostheses have become in the past decade a promising and realistic technology to restore vision. Nonetheless, sight restoration with retinal prostheses in a clinically relevant perspective requires resolution and implantation challenges not yet achieved. Our goal is the development of a foldable and wide field-retinal prosthesis capable of achieving a wireless photovoltaic stimulation of retinal ganglion cells and restore at least 40° of visual field, though being injectable trough minimal incision. The 2345 organic photovoltaic stimulating pixels of our retina prosthesis are distributed into biomimetic pattern within an active area of 13 mm (44° of visual field) and the light-triggered current profile generated by those pixels shows a reproducible ability to elicit activity in explanted rodents’ retinas mimicking human retina dystrophies. Extracellular recordings of prosthetic-evoked spiking activity of retinal ganglion cells reveal both direct and network-mediated stimulation when the degenerating retina circuit is explanted on top of the stimulating device, while when retinas are layered on bare PDMS substrates, any light-evoked pattern of response can be detected among retina spontaneous activity. Screening of different conditions of illumination (pulse duration and intensity) with Rd10 retinas explanted on our prosthesis shows a direct activation from the minimal radiant exposure tested - that is 7 times smaller than the maximum permissible retinal irradiance allowed for ophthalmic applications in this case- while network-mediated activation requires higher light exposure and can be supressed using synaptic blockers. The clinical compliance of the so-designed prosthesis and those preliminary results on explanted retinas represent a step forward in building wide-field photovoltaic retinal prostheses

Design and validation of a foldable and photovoltaic wide-field epiretinal prosthesis

Retinal prostheses have been developed to fight blindness in people affected by outer retinal layer dystrophies. To date, few hundred patients have received a retinal implant. Inspired by intraocular lenses, we have designed a foldable and photovoltaic wide-field epiretinal prosthesis (named POLYRETINA) capable of stimulating wireless retinal ganglion cells. Here we show that within a visual angle of 46.3 degrees, POLYRETINA embeds 2215 stimulating pixels, of which 967 are in the central area of 5 mm, it is foldable to allow implantation through a small scleral incision, and it has a hemispherical shape to match the curvature of the eye. We demonstrate that it is not cytotoxic and respects optical and thermal safety standards; accelerated ageing shows a lifetime of at least 2 years. POLYRETINA represents significant progress towards the improvement of both visual acuity and visual field with the same device, a current challenging issue in the field

Development and Characterization of PEDOT:PSS/Alginate Soft Microelectrodes for Application in Neuroprosthetics

Reducing the mechanical mismatch between the stiffness of a neural implant and the softness of the neural tissue is still an open challenge in neuroprosthetics. The emergence of conductive hydrogels in the last few years has considerably widened the spectrum of possibilities to tackle this issue. Nevertheless, despite the advancements in this field, further improvements in the fabrication of conductive hydrogel-based electrodes are still required. In this work, we report the fabrication of a conductive hydrogel-based microelectrode array for neural recording using a hybrid material composed of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate), and alginate. The mechanical properties of the conductive hydrogel have been investigated using imaging techniques, while the electrode arrays have been electrochemically characterized at each fabrication step, and successfully validated both in vitro and in vivo. The presence of the conductive hydrogel, selectively electrodeposited onto the platinum microelectrodes, allowed achieving superior electrochemical characteristics, leading to a lower electrical noise during recordings. These findings represent an advancement in the design of soft conductive electrodes for neuroprosthetic applications

Corrélation entre les propriétés structurelles et électriques des matériaux semi-conducteurs organiques

Cette thèse présents plusieurs techniques de caractérisation appliqués à diverses matières organiques dans le but de démêler leur structure-propriétés relation once encapsulés comme matériaux actifs dans les dispositifs de OFET. Un soin particulier est alors dédié aux méthodes de caractérisation structurale (2D-GIXRD, XRR et XRD) à la fois de source de laboratoire classique et de rayonnement de synchrotron. Divers matériaux polymères organiques, compris de p- et n-type de petites molécules et polymères en solution ou déposés par sublimation sous vide sont étudiées. En particulier, l'étude de OFET basée sur deux fonctionnalisés isomères péryléne ne différant que par la forme des alkyle côté chaînes démontre comment la nature ramifié et asymétrique des chaînes peut conduire à une amélioration de la performance électrique avec un simple traitement thermique post-dépôt, tandis que la fabrication de dispositifs ambipolaire polymères au moyen de la technique Langmuir-Schaefer souligne l'importance de la méthode de dépôt sur l'agencement de la matière sur la surface du substrat. Une approche inhabituelle, nommé enquête structurelle in_situ et en temps réel, est aussi présenté pour évaluer les modifications structurelles dans les films minces organiques subissent un processus particulier. Plus précisément, la réponse de la structure des films minces de pentacene à l’application de VSG et VSD au OFET et des films minces dérivés de TTF à la variation d’humidité ont été étudiés.This thesis presents multiple characterization techniques applied to various organic materials with the ultimate goal of unraveling their structure-properties relationship once encapsulated as active materials in OFETs devices. Particular care is then dedicated to the structural characterization methods (2D-GIXRD, XRR and XRD) both from classical laboratory source and from synchrotron radiation. Various organic materials, comprising p- and n-type small molecules and polymers deposited from solution or by vacuum sublimation are investigated. In particular, the study on OFETs based two functionalized perylene isomers differing only in the shape of the alkyl side-chians demonstrates how the branched and asymmetric nature of the chains can lead to an improvement of the electrical performance with a simple post-deposition thermal treatment, while the fabrication of ambipolar polymeric devices by means of Langmir-Schaefer technique highligts the importance of the deposition method on the arrangement of the material on the substrate surface. A more unusual approach, named in-situ and real-time structural investigation, is also presented to evaluate structural modifications in organic thin films undergoing a particular process. Specifically, the structural responce of pentacene thin films to the application of VSG and VSD to the OFET and of TTF derivatives thin films to the variation of humidty were investigated

Corrélation entre les propriétés structurelles et électriques des matériaux semi-conducteurs organiques

Cette thèse présents plusieurs techniques de caractérisation appliqués à diverses matières organiques dans le but de démêler leur structure-propriétés relation once encapsulés comme matériaux actifs dans les dispositifs de OFET. Un soin particulier est alors dédié aux méthodes de caractérisation structurale (2D-GIXRD, XRR et XRD) à la fois de source de laboratoire classique et de rayonnement de synchrotron. Divers matériaux polymères organiques, compris de p- et n-type de petites molécules et polymères en solution ou déposés par sublimation sous vide sont étudiées. En particulier, l'étude de OFET basée sur deux fonctionnalisés isomères péryléne ne différant que par la forme des alkyle côté chaînes démontre comment la nature ramifié et asymétrique des chaînes peut conduire à une amélioration de la performance électrique avec un simple traitement thermique post-dépôt, tandis que la fabrication de dispositifs ambipolaire polymères au moyen de la technique Langmuir-Schaefer souligne l'importance de la méthode de dépôt sur l'agencement de la matière sur la surface du substrat. Une approche inhabituelle, nommé enquête structurelle in_situ et en temps réel, est aussi présenté pour évaluer les modifications structurelles dans les films minces organiques subissent un processus particulier. Plus précisément, la réponse de la structure des films minces de pentacene à l’application de VSG et VSD au OFET et des films minces dérivés de TTF à la variation d’humidité ont été étudiés.This thesis presents multiple characterization techniques applied to various organic materials with the ultimate goal of unraveling their structure-properties relationship once encapsulated as active materials in OFETs devices. Particular care is then dedicated to the structural characterization methods (2D-GIXRD, XRR and XRD) both from classical laboratory source and from synchrotron radiation. Various organic materials, comprising p- and n-type small molecules and polymers deposited from solution or by vacuum sublimation are investigated. In particular, the study on OFETs based two functionalized perylene isomers differing only in the shape of the alkyl side-chians demonstrates how the branched and asymmetric nature of the chains can lead to an improvement of the electrical performance with a simple post-deposition thermal treatment, while the fabrication of ambipolar polymeric devices by means of Langmir-Schaefer technique highligts the importance of the deposition method on the arrangement of the material on the substrate surface. A more unusual approach, named in-situ and real-time structural investigation, is also presented to evaluate structural modifications in organic thin films undergoing a particular process. Specifically, the structural responce of pentacene thin films to the application of VSG and VSD to the OFET and of TTF derivatives thin films to the variation of humidty were investigated

Correlation between structural and electrical properties of organic semiconducting materials

This thesis presents multiple characterization techniques applied to various organic materials with the ultimate goal of unraveling their structure-properties relationship once encapsulated as active materials in OFETs devices. Particular care is then dedicated to the structural characterization methods (2D-GIXRD, XRR and XRD) both from classical laboratory source and from synchrotron radiation. Various organic materials, comprising p- and n-type small molecules and polymers deposited from solution or by vacuum sublimation are investigated. In particular, the study on OFETs based two functionalized perylene isomers differing only in the shape of the alkyl side-chians demonstrates how the branched and asymmetric nature of the chains can lead to an improvement of the electrical performance with a simple post-deposition thermal treatment, while the fabrication of ambipolar polymeric devices by means of Langmir-Schaefer technique highligts the importance of the deposition method on the arrangement of the material on the substrate surface. A more unusual approach, named in-situ and real-time structural investigation, is also presented to evaluate structural modifications in organic thin films undergoing a particular process. Specifically, the structural responce of pentacene thin films to the application of VSG and VSD to the OFET and of TTF derivatives thin films to the variation of humidty were investigated.Cette thèse présents plusieurs techniques de caractérisation appliqués à diverses matières organiques dans le but de démêler leur structure-propriétés relation once encapsulés comme matériaux actifs dans les dispositifs de OFET. Un soin particulier est alors dédié aux méthodes de caractérisation structurale (2D-GIXRD, XRR et XRD) à la fois de source de laboratoire classique et de rayonnement de synchrotron. Divers matériaux polymères organiques, compris de p- et n-type de petites molécules et polymères en solution ou déposés par sublimation sous vide sont étudiées. En particulier, l'étude de OFET basée sur deux fonctionnalisés isomères péryléne ne différant que par la forme des alkyle côté chaînes démontre comment la nature ramifié et asymétrique des chaînes peut conduire à une amélioration de la performance électrique avec un simple traitement thermique post-dépôt, tandis que la fabrication de dispositifs ambipolaire polymères au moyen de la technique Langmuir-Schaefer souligne l'importance de la méthode de dépôt sur l'agencement de la matière sur la surface du substrat. Une approche inhabituelle, nommé enquête structurelle in_situ et en temps réel, est aussi présenté pour évaluer les modifications structurelles dans les films minces organiques subissent un processus particulier. Plus précisément, la réponse de la structure des films minces de pentacene à l’application de VSG et VSD au OFET et des films minces dérivés de TTF à la variation d’humidité ont été étudiés