Organic Electronics Developed by Biology - Brain Biosensing and Electronic Medicine

Within this project, I want to develop and introduce non-toxic brain biosensors for monitoring of cell metabolism to predict epileptic seizures. The  biosensors will be integrated with electronic drug delivery for precise seizure control. Epilepsy is a condition in which neurons in specific brain regions fire altogether in an uncontrollable manner.

Traditional medicine is slow and fails to treat epileptic seizures efficiently.

During increased excitability, the altered cell metabolism induces rapid fluctuations of energy metabolites in the extracellular space.

Although bioelectronic devices are used to monitor and treat epileptic seizures, they are limited to monitoring only neuronal excitability or applying non-selective high amplitude currents.

They fail to monitor the cell metabolism, which can be used as a biomarker for predicting seizure onset, or deliver a precise amount of drug to the seizure focus.The sensor development will rely on unconventional processes in which enzymes will polymerize novel organic precursors to form soft electronic conductors.

The formation and functionalization will occur in one step resulting in advnaced biosensors. The formed conductors will monitor both electrical activity and cell metabolism.

Sensing and drug delivery will be tested in vivo ranging from individual cells to progressively more complex models such as zebrafish, leeches, and rodents. These novel tools and processes are a huge leap towards merging electronics with biology.