title: Ultraflexible nanoelectronic probes form reliable, glial scar-free neural integration.
abstract: Implanted brain electrodes construct the only means to electrically interface with individual neurons in vivo, but their recording efficacy and biocompatibility pose limitations on scientific and clinical applications. We showed that nanoelectronic thread (NET) electrodes with subcellular dimensions, ultraflexibility, and cellular surgical footprints form reliable, glial scar-free neural integration. We demonstrated that NET electrodes reliably detected and tracked individual units for months; their impedance, noise level, single-unit recording yield, and the signal amplitude remained stable during long-term implantation. In vivo two-photon imaging and postmortem histological analysis revealed seamless, subcellular integration of NET probes with the local cellular and vasculature networks, featuring fully recovered capillaries with an intact blood-brain barrier and complete absence of chronic neuronal degradation and glial scar.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Zhengtuo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Center for Learning and Memory, Institute for Neuroscience, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer J
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5548-1716
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Siegel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Ojas
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Potnis
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Catherine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Tuppen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Shengqing
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6506-3251
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Shams
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kazmi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Stewart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holloway
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: Center for Learning and Memory, Institute for Neuroscience, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Raymond A
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2016-5238
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Chitwood
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1192, USA.
authors.forename: Chong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D008297:Male; D008422:Materials Testing; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D036641:Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton; D049329:Nanostructures; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
keywords: biocompatible implant; in vivo imaging; intracortical recording; nanoelectronics; neural electrode; ultra-flexible electronics