Dissolvable films of silk fibroin for ultrathin conformal bio-integrated electronics.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

Electronics that are capable of intimate, non-invasive integration with the soft, curvilinear surfaces of biological tissues offer important opportunities for diagnosing and treating disease and for improving brain/machine interfaces. This article describes a material strategy for a type of bio-interfaced system that relies on ultrathin electronics supported by bioresorbable substrates of silk fibroin. Mounting such devices on tissue and then allowing the silk to dissolve and resorb initiates a spontaneous, conformal wrapping process driven by capillary forces at the biotic/abiotic interface. Specialized mesh designs and ultrathin forms for the electronics ensure minimal stresses on the tissue and highly conformal coverage, even for complex curvilinear surfaces, as confirmed by experimental and theoretical studies. In vivo, neural mapping experiments on feline animal models illustrate one mode of use for this class of technology. These concepts provide new capabilities for implantable and surgical devices.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Kim, D-H; Viventi, J; Amsden, JJ; Xiao, J; Vigeland, L; Kim, Y-S; Blanco, JA; Panilaitis, B; Frechette, ES; Contreras, D; Kaplan, DL; Omenetto, FG; Huang, Y; Hwang, K-C; Zakin, MR; Litt, B; Rogers, JA

Published Date

  • June 2010

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 9 / 6

Start / End Page

  • 511 - 517

PubMed ID

  • 20400953

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC3034223

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1476-4660

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1476-1122

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1038/nmat2745

Language

  • eng