title: Silk-based resorbable electronic devices for remotely controlled therapy and in vivo infection abatement.
abstract: A paradigm shift for implantable medical devices lies at the confluence between regenerative medicine, where materials remodel and integrate in the biological milieu, and technology, through the use of recently developed material platforms based on biomaterials and bioresorbable technologies such as optics and electronics. The union of materials and technology in this context enables a class of biomedical devices that can be optically or electronically functional and yet harmlessly degrade once their use is complete. We present here a fully degradable, remotely controlled, implantable therapeutic device operating in vivo to counter a Staphylococcus aureus infection that disappears once its function is complete. This class of device provides fully resorbable packaging and electronics that can be turned on remotely, after implantation, to provide the necessary thermal therapy or trigger drug delivery. Such externally controllable, resorbable devices not only obviate the need for secondary surgeries and retrieval, but also have extended utility as therapeutic devices that can be left behind at a surgical or suturing site, following intervention, and can be externally controlled to allow for infection management by either thermal treatment or by remote triggering of drug release when there is retardation of antibiotic diffusion, deep infections are present, or when systemic antibiotic treatment alone is insufficient due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains. After completion of function, the device is safely resorbed into the body, within a programmable period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155;
authors.forename: Hu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, and Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801;
authors.forename: Suk-Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155;
authors.forename: Benedetto
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155;
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155;
authors.forename: Jodie E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Moreau
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155;
authors.forename: Miaomiao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155;
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Brenckle
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, and Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801;
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155; Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155;
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, and Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801; Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801; and jrogers@uiuc.edu fiorenzo.omenetto@tufts.edu.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155; Department of Physics, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155 jrogers@uiuc.edu fiorenzo.omenetto@tufts.edu.
authors.forename: Fiorenzo G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Omenetto
mesh_terms: D020341:Absorbable Implants; D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D004581:Electronics; D004867:Equipment Design; D004864:Equipment and Supplies; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011846:Radio Waves; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus; D013696:Temperature; D013816:Thermodynamics; D059015:Wireless Technology
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D001704:Biopolymers; D047011:Silk
keywords: biomaterials; drug delivery; resorbable electronics; silk; theranostics