Researchers Inject Tiny, Rolled-Up Electronics into the Brain Using a Syringe

Technology





Photo credit:

Bright-field image showing the mesh electronics being injected through sub-100 micrometer inner diameter glass needle into aqueous solution. Lieber Research Group / Harvard University

Researchers have developed stretchy, bendy electronics that are so thin they can be rolled up and jammed into a small needle with a 0.1-millimeter diameter, then injected into living tissue. Within an hour of being injected into the brains of live mice, the electronics unfurled and began monitoring biological activity. The work is described in Nature Nanotechnology this week.