Materials for biointegrated electronic and microfluidic systems
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troduction This article focuses on some representative project areas in biointegrated materials science that we have found to be interesting and productive during the last decade. Much of it involves thinking about materials and devices that can integrate with biological systems in ways that were previously impossible, and pursuing the consequences in terms of advances in human health—achieved either through reductions in cost or improvements in outcomes. The emphasis is, by necessity, on our own work, but we acknowledge, at the outset, that many other groups are active in this area, with numerous examples of impressive progress beyond those described here. A couple of particular platforms are summarized where new ideas in materials have worked well for us, and some applications are also highlighted where we are gaining good traction in clinical translation. Much of this work is ultimately about having a positive effect on how we think about human healthcare and about building devices that can improve the lives of patients who are suffering from various kinds of disorders. Another area that represents a frontier in this broader space is three-dimensional (3D) open-network systems that integrate with biology through
volumetric spaces, rather than surfaces, to enable new levels of functionality. We think about the key challenges in the context of reformulating or reengineering the kinds of sophisticated electronic devices that form the backbone of consumer gadgetry, into systems that can support long-term, intimate integration with soft tissues of the human body. We focus on those kinds of interfaces and capabilities, in terms of their use for human health, neuroscience research, and discovery, as tools to improve our understanding of living systems and to improve human health as well. In terms of various organ systems as points of integration, one obvious area of opportunity is the brain—biology’s most sophisticated form of electronics. If one wants to understand how the brain operates, or if one wants to deliver engineered therapies to address brain disorders, one might want to bring to bear on that problem man’s most sophisticated form of electronics—integrated circuits that incorporate highperformance transistor and logic functionality. Standard, waferbased platforms that form the basis of cell phones and laptop computers do not work well in this context. New materials strategies and new device designs are required to render that type of functionality into biocompatible forms; for example,
John A. Rogers, Northwestern University, USA; [email protected] doi:10.1557/mrs.2019.46
• VOLUME © 2019 Materials Research Society MRSCambridge BULLETIN Core 44of• use, MARCH 2019 • atwww.mrs.org/bulletin Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. East Carolina University, on 12 Mar 2019 at 05:17:14, subject to the terms available https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2019.46
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Materials for biointegrated electronic and microfluidic systems
thin, soft membranes that gently laminate
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