Philipp Gutruf1
University of Arizona1
Materials and fabrication concepts for the creation of soft electronics coupled with miniaturization of wireless energy harvesting schemes enable the construction of high-performance electronic and optoelectronic systems with sizes, shapes and physical properties matched its biological host<sup>[1]</sup>. Applications range from continuous monitors for health diagnosis to minimally invasive exploratory tools for neuroscience<sup>[2]</sup>. Translation of these approaches towards neuroscience tools to enable advanced insight into the central and peripheral nervous require means to enable full subdermal implantation and operation to enable naturalistic behavior which often is the readout of circuit level behavioral experiments that are critical to decipher function. This talk presents science and engineering approaches for the creation of soft devices with near field power transfer and data communication capabilities<sup>[3]</sup> and discusses application in devices for the stimulation of the brain and the peripherals in a range of complex 3D environments and contexts (e.g. social interactions) that cannot be explored with conventional technologies. We introduce a series of advances in subdermally implantable device technologies enable digitally controllable subdermal platforms with multimodal optogenetic and electrical stimulation capabilities<sup>[4]</sup><sup>[5]</sup> with the ability to provide stimulus without the physical penetration of the blood brain barrier. Additional to these stimulation capabilities new developments in low power electronics that allow for capabilities in recording genetically encoded calcium indicators and physiological states of organs to enable neuronal modulation with high precision and direct feedback in freely moving subjects.<sup>[6]</sup> Because of the minimally invasive nature of these tools we show chronic neuromodulation capabilities over months in freely moving subjects. Combined these capabilities elevate device functionality substantially over current tethered platforms enabling fundamentally new approaches in experimental design to uncover the working principle of the central and peripheral nervous system and show promise to advance digital medicine approaches.<br/>[1] P. Gutruf, J. A. Rogers, <i>Curr. Opin. Neurobiol.</i> <b>2018</b>, <i>50</i>, 42.<br/>[2] P. Gutruf, C. H. Good, J. A. Rogers, <i>APL Photonics</i> <b>2018</b>, <i>3</i>, 120901.<br/>[3] P. Gutruf, V. Krishnamurthi, A. Vázquez-Guardado, Z. Xie, A. Banks, C.-J. Su, Y. Xu, C. R. Haney, E. A. Waters, I. Kandela, <i>Nat. Electron.</i> <b>2018</b>, <i>1</i>, 652.<br/>[4] P. Gutruf, R. T. Yin, K. B. Lee, J. Ausra, J. A. Brennan, Y. Qiao, Z. Xie, R. Peralta, O. Talarico, A. Murillo, S. W. Chen, J. P. Leshock, C. R. Haney, E. A. Waters, C. Zhang, H. Luan, Y. Huang, G. Trachiotis, I. R. Efimov, J. A. Rogers, <i>Nat. Commun.</i> <b>2019</b>, <i>10</i>, 5742.<br/>[5] J. Ausra, S. J. Munger, A. Azami, A. Burton, R. Peralta, J. E. Miller, P. Gutruf, <i>Nat. Commun.</i> <b>2021</b>, <i>12</i>, 1968.<br/>[6] A. Burton, S. N. Obaid, A. Vázquez-Guardado, M. B. Schmit, T. Stuart, L. Cai, Z. Chen, I. Kandela, C. R. Haney, E. A. Waters, H. Cai, J. A. Rogers, L. Lu, P. Gutruf, <i>Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.</i> <b>2020</b>, 201920073.