Scalable Electrophysiology of Millimeter-Scale Animals with Electrode Devices

Kairu Dong; Wen-Che Liu; Yuyan Su; Yidan Lyu; Hao Huang; Nenggan Zheng; John A Rogers; Kewang Nan

doi:10.34133/bmef.0034

Scalable Electrophysiology of Millimeter-Scale Animals with Electrode Devices

BME Front. 2023 Dec 7:4:0034. doi: 10.34133/bmef.0034. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kairu Dong^{1

2

3}, Wen-Che Liu^{1

2}, Yuyan Su^{1

4}, Yidan Lyu¹, Hao Huang^{1

5}, Nenggan Zheng^{6

7

8

9}, John A Rogers^{10

11

12

13}, Kewang Nan^{1

2

14}

Affiliations

¹ College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
² National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
³ College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.
⁴ Department of Gastroenterology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
⁵ College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
⁶ Qiushi Academy for Advanced Studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
⁷ College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
⁸ State Key Lab of Brain-Machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
⁹ CCAI by MOE and Zhejiang Provincial Government (ZJU), Hangzhou 310027, China.
¹⁰ Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
¹¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
¹² Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
¹³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
¹⁴ Jinhua Institute of Zhejiang University, Jinhua 321299, China.

Abstract

Millimeter-scale animals such as Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila larvae, zebrafish, and bees serve as powerful model organisms in the fields of neurobiology and neuroethology. Various methods exist for recording large-scale electrophysiological signals from these animals. Existing approaches often lack, however, real-time, uninterrupted investigations due to their rigid constructs, geometric constraints, and mechanical mismatch in integration with soft organisms. The recent research establishes the foundations for 3-dimensional flexible bioelectronic interfaces that incorporate microfabricated components and nanoelectronic function with adjustable mechanical properties and multidimensional variability, offering unique capabilities for chronic, stable interrogation and stimulation of millimeter-scale animals and miniature tissue constructs. This review summarizes the most advanced technologies for electrophysiological studies, based on methods of 3-dimensional flexible bioelectronics. A concluding section addresses the challenges of these devices in achieving freestanding, robust, and multifunctional biointerfaces.

Publication types

Review