Polymer-Based Implantable Electrodes: State of the Art and Future Prospects

Electrical interfaces between technical system and the biological system differs with respect to material and shape depending on their intended application. Although there are different approaches using silicon as basic material for sieve or needle like electrodes interfacing the nerve tissue. This abstract will focus on polymer-based flexible implantable electrodes. Mechanical interaction between the electrode and tender nerve tissues can induce adverse body reaction such as fibrous tissue encapsulation. Using flexible materials to design the electro-biological interface might reduce this effect. Different designs of such flexible electrodes were proposed for contacting the nerve or as platform for sensors. For example, Cuff like electrodes can be elastically wrapped around the nerve for recording or stimulation of neural signals. Using microtechnology for the structuring of polymer substrates new fiber like electrodes with multiple electrode sites were developed that can be sewed into the nerve. Thereby the possibility of selective nerve recording and stimulation was improved. One major problem of these tiny and flexible electrodes is the connection to recording and stimulation system. Incorporating electronics such as multiplexer or amplifier directly on the flexible substrate could reduce the number of connection lines or improve the sensor capabilities. Further, the integration of flexible organic electronics on the implant allows the design of more flexible and intelligent electrodes. Additionally the electrodes and sensors can be designed using conductive polymers to create a new generation of “All Polymer” active implants. Not only the chemical and mechanical properties of the materials employed can influence the biocompatibility of an implant but also the surface topography in the nanometer range plays a key role such as the growth of cells on the implants. Selective adhesion of different type of cells to different parts of the implant is a challenge for the interdisciplinary research. Finally the combination of surface nanostructuring, for example the interference laser beam structuring, and organic electronics with microstructured polymer implants offers interesting potentials for new active implants of the next decades