Biomimetic Conducting Polymer Devices to Study the Gut-Brain Axis

The gut-brain axis (GBA), has emerged as an incredibly important, but complex, part of human physiology. Dysregulation or disruption of the GBA is implicated in a host of pathologies that affect brain and gut (e.g. Autism Spectrum disorder, Crohn’s disease) but also whole body disorders where inflammation and metabolism are affected. Physiologically relevant in vitro human models, as well as advanced tools to study in vivo animal models, are urgently required to elucidate mechanisms in GBA. In this talk I’ll discuss a new generation of electronic tools, based on conducting polymers, for understanding the GBA. First, I’ll discuss our progress towards generating a complete platform of the human GBA with integrated monitoring and sensing capabilities. We use tissue mimetic conducting polymer scaffolds to build human-based models of the gut and brain which can then be used to study different aspects of GBA in health and disease. Second, I’ll discuss conformable electronic devices we’ve developed for both ex-situ measurements of GI tissue from rats, as well as in vivo experiments in live rats. These devices allow highly sensitive monitoring of gut permeability and motility, as well as the enteric nervous system.