Ultraflexible organic amplifier with biocompatible gel electrodes.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27125910.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms11425 and PMC identifier 5411732.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
In vivo electronic monitoring systems are promising technology to obtain biosignals with high spatiotemporal resolution and sensitivity. Here we demonstrate the fabrication of a biocompatible highly conductive gel composite comprising multi-walled carbon nanotube-dispersed sheet with an aqueous hydrogel. This gel composite exhibits admittance of 100 mS cm(-2) and maintains high admittance even in a low-frequency range. On implantation into a living hypodermal tissue for 4 weeks, it showed a small foreign-body reaction compared with widely used metal electrodes. Capitalizing on the multi-functional gel composite, we fabricated an ultrathin and mechanically flexible organic active matrix amplifier on a 1.2-μm-thick polyethylene-naphthalate film to amplify (amplification factor: ∼200) weak biosignals. The composite was integrated to the amplifier to realize a direct lead epicardial electrocardiography that is easily spread over an uneven heart tissue.
Medical subject headings
- Biocompatible Materials
- Electrocardiography
- Electronics
- Hydrogels
- Nanotubes, Carbon