Electropolymerized Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) Coatings for Implantable Deep-Brain-Stimulating Microelectrodes

Conducting polymers have been widely explored as coating materials for metal electrodes to improve neural signal recording and stimulation because of their mixed electronic-ionic conduction and biocompatibility. In particular, the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) is one of the best candidates for biomedical applications due to its high conductivity and good electrochemical stability. Coating metal electrodes with PEDOT has shown to enhance the electrode's performance by decreasing the impedance and increasing the charge storage capacity. However, PEDOT-coated metal electrodes often have issues with delamination and stability, resulting in decreased device performance and lifetime. In this work, we were able to electropolymerize PEDOT coatings on sharp platinum-iridium recording and stimulating neural electrodes and demonstrated its mechanical and electrochemical stability. Electropolymerization of PEDOT:tetrafluoroborate was carried out in three different solvents: propylene carbonate, acetonitrile, and water. The stability of the coatings was assessed via ultrasonication, phosphate buffer solution soaking test, autoclave sterilization, and electrical pulsing. Coatings prepared with propylene carbonate or acetonitrile possessed excellent electrochemical stability and survived autoclave sterilization, prolonged soaking, and electrical stimulation without major changes in electrochemical properties. Stimulating microelectrodes were implanted in rats and stimulated daily, for 7 and 15 days. The electrochemical properties monitored in vivo demonstrated that the stimulation procedure for both coated and uncoated electrodes decreased the impedance

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) Coatings for High-Quality Electromyography Recording

Conducting polymer coatings on metal electrodes are an efficient solution to improve neural signal recording and stimulation, due to their mixed electronic-ionic conduction and biocompatibility. To date, only a few studies have been reported on conducting polymer coatings on metallic wire electrodes for muscle signal recording. Chronic muscle signal recording of freely moving animals can be challenging to acquire with coated electrodes, due to muscle movement around the electrode that can increase instances of coating delamination and device failure. The poor adhesion of conducting polymers to some inorganic substrates and the possible degradation of their electrochemical properties after harsh treatments, such as sterilization, or during implantation limits their use for biomedical applications. Here, we demonstrate the mechanical and electrochemical stability of the conducting polymer, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) doped with LiClO4, deposited on stainless steel multistranded wire electrodes for invasive muscle signal recording in mice. The mechanical and electrochemical stability was achieved by tuning the electropolymerization conditions. PEDOT-coated and bare stainless steel electrodes were implanted in the neck muscle of five mice for electromyographic (EMG) activity recording over a period of 6 weeks. The PEDOT coating improved the electrochemical properties of the stainless steel electrodes, lowering the impedance, resulting in an enhanced signal-to-noise ratio during in vivo EMG recording compared to bare electrodes

Survey of neonatal respiratory care and surfactant administration in very preterm infants in the Italian neonatal network

Introduction: Variation of respiratory care is described between centers around the world.The Italian Neonatal Network (INN), as a national group of the Vermont-Oxford Network (VON) allows to perform a wide analysis of respiratory care in very low birth weight infants. Methods:We analyzed the dataset of infants enrolled in the INN in 2009 and 2010 and, for surfactant administration only, from 2006 to 2010 from 83 participating centers. All definitions are those of the (VON). A questionnaire analysis was also performed with a questionnaire on centers practices. Results: We report data for 8297 infants. Data on ventilator practices and outcomes are outlined. Variation for both practices and outcome is found. Trend in surfactant administration is also analyzed. Conclusions. The great variation across hospitals in all the surveyed techniques points to the possibility of implementing potentially better practices with the aim of reducing unwanted variation. These data also show the power of large neonatal networks in identifying areas for potential improvement. \ua9 Mattioli 1885

Changes in surgicaL behaviOrs dUring the CoviD-19 pandemic. The SICE CLOUD19 Study

BACKGROUND: The spread of the SARS-CoV2 virus, which causes COVID-19 disease, profoundly impacted the surgical community. Recommendations have been published to manage patients needing surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. This survey, under the aegis of the Italian Society of Endoscopic Surgery, aims to analyze how Italian surgeons have changed their practice during the pandemic.METHODS: The authors designed an online survey that was circulated for completion to the Italian departments of general surgery registered in the Italian Ministry of Health database in December 2020. Questions were divided into three sections: hospital organization, screening policies, and safety profile of the surgical operation. The investigation periods were divided into the Italian pandemic phases I (March-May 2020), II (June-September 2020), and III (October-December 2020).RESULTS: Of 447 invited departments, 226 answered the survey. Most hospitals were treating both COVID-19-positive and -negative patients. The reduction in effective beds dedicated to surgical activity was significant, affecting 59% of the responding units. 12.4% of the respondents in phase I, 2.6% in phase II, and 7.7% in phase III reported that their surgical unit had been closed. 51.4%, 23.5%, and 47.8% of the respondents had at least one colleague reassigned to non-surgical COVID-19 activities during the three phases. There has been a reduction in elective (>200 procedures: 2.1%, 20.6% and 9.9% in the three phases, respectively) and emergency (<20 procedures: 43.3%, 27.1%, 36.5% in the three phases, respectively) surgical activity. The use of laparoscopy also had a setback in phase I (25.8% performed less than 20% of elective procedures through laparoscopy). 60.6% of the respondents used a smoke evacuation device during laparoscopy in phase I, 61.6% in phase II, and 64.2% in phase III. Almost all responders (82.8% vs. 93.2% vs. 92.7%) in each analyzed period did not modify or reduce the use of high-energy devices.CONCLUSION: This survey offers three faithful snapshots of how the surgical community has reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic during its three phases. The significant reduction in surgical activity indicates that better health policies and more evidence-based guidelines are needed to make up for lost time and surgery not performed during the pandemic