TY - JOUR
T1 - Syringe-injectable electronics
AU - Liu, Jia
AU - Fu, Tian Ming
AU - Cheng, Zengguang
AU - Hong, Guosong
AU - Zhou, Tao
AU - Jin, Lihua
AU - Duvvuri, Madhavi
AU - Jiang, Zhe
AU - Kruskal, Peter
AU - Xie, Chong
AU - Suo, Zhigang
AU - Fang, Ying
AU - Lieber, Charles M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank J.L. Huang for in vivo scaffold fabrication. C.M.L. acknowledges support from a National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Star Family Fund.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited.
PY - 2015/7/11
Y1 - 2015/7/11
N2 - Seamless and minimally invasive three-dimensional interpenetration of electronics within artificial or natural structures could allow for continuous monitoring and manipulation of their properties. Flexible electronics provide a means for conforming electronics to non-planar surfaces, yet targeted delivery of flexible electronics to internal regions remains difficult. Here, we overcome this challenge by demonstrating the syringe injection (and subsequent unfolding) of sub-micrometre-thick, centimetre-scale macroporous mesh electronics through needles with a diameter as small as 100μm. Our results show that electronic components can be injected into man-made and biological cavities, as well as dense gels and tissue, with >90% device yield. We demonstrate several applications of syringe-injectable electronics as a general approach for interpenetrating flexible electronics with three-dimensional structures, including (1) monitoring internal mechanical strains in polymer cavities, (2) tight integration and low chronic immunoreactivity with several distinct regions of the brain, and (3) in vivo multiplexed neural recording. Moreover, syringe injection enables the delivery of flexible electronics through a rigid shell, the delivery of large-volume flexible electronics that can fill internal cavities, and co-injection of electronics with other materials into host structures, opening up unique applications for flexible electronics.
AB - Seamless and minimally invasive three-dimensional interpenetration of electronics within artificial or natural structures could allow for continuous monitoring and manipulation of their properties. Flexible electronics provide a means for conforming electronics to non-planar surfaces, yet targeted delivery of flexible electronics to internal regions remains difficult. Here, we overcome this challenge by demonstrating the syringe injection (and subsequent unfolding) of sub-micrometre-thick, centimetre-scale macroporous mesh electronics through needles with a diameter as small as 100μm. Our results show that electronic components can be injected into man-made and biological cavities, as well as dense gels and tissue, with >90% device yield. We demonstrate several applications of syringe-injectable electronics as a general approach for interpenetrating flexible electronics with three-dimensional structures, including (1) monitoring internal mechanical strains in polymer cavities, (2) tight integration and low chronic immunoreactivity with several distinct regions of the brain, and (3) in vivo multiplexed neural recording. Moreover, syringe injection enables the delivery of flexible electronics through a rigid shell, the delivery of large-volume flexible electronics that can fill internal cavities, and co-injection of electronics with other materials into host structures, opening up unique applications for flexible electronics.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84938875657&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84938875657&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/nnano.2015.115
DO - 10.1038/nnano.2015.115
M3 - Article
C2 - 26053995
AN - SCOPUS:84938875657
SN - 1748-3387
VL - 10
SP - 629
EP - 635
JO - Nature Nanotechnology
JF - Nature Nanotechnology
IS - 7
ER -