These nanoelectronics-innervated synthetic tissues have now been referred to as
“cyborg tissues”by societies, but that also left the question of how to get this inside
a living animal, especially a living brain. So, Dr. Liu further developed a
syringe-injectable method to deliver the macroporous nanoelectronics into brain
tissue injected by a 100-lm-diameter needle through a hole on the skull. By specific
mechanical design, the macroporous nanoelectronics can self-scroll up into a
tubular structure inside the needle to be precisely delivered into targeted region
inside the brain with no damage to the device for recording of neural activity at
single spike and single cellular level. The injected electronics are one millionth
times moreflexible than conventional implantable electronics and contain more
than 95% empty space. They can unfold in the cavity region inside brain such as the
lateral ventricle and partially unfold in the dense tissue region. After 5-week
implantation, the injected macroporous nanoelectronics interpenetrate with neural
networks with no immune response and inflammation. In addition, Dr. Liu also
demonstrated that the injected macroporous nanoelectronic network can promote
the proliferation and migration of neural progenitor cells and co-injection of cul-
tured cells with electronics, which paves the way for the potential nanoelectronics-
enabled cellular therapies. The syringe-injectable electronics have been awarded as
Top Research of 2015 byChemical & Engineering Newsand 10 World Changing
Ideas byScientific American.
This thesis work shows the most advanced technology of building electronics–
tissue interface in vitro and in vivo, which opens up unprecedented opportunities
from fundamental research of brain activity mapping to nanoelectronics-enabled
drug screening assays and therapies.
Cambridge, MA, USA
February 2016
Prof. Charles M. Liebervi Supervisor’s Foreword