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Nanoparticles from "organic semiconductor materials" could be used in bioelectronic devices to stimulate the human nervous system for medical purposes, Associate Professor Rebecca Lim says - Newcastle Herald

Nanoparticles from "organic semiconductor materials" could be used in bioelectronic devices to stimulate the human nervous system for medical purposes, Associate Professor Rebecca Lim says - Newcastle Herald

Nanoparticles from
Aug 10, 2022 1 min, 9 secs

Artificial electronic devices are being tested to interact with nervous system tissue in a University of Newcastle study.

The study involves developing nanoparticles from "organic semiconductor materials" that could be used for "neural prosthetic devices".

"However, many devices used for implantation in the body use materials such as metals, which are hard, rigid and foreign to the body," Dr Lim said.

Such devices are not compatible with biological tissue and can aggravate it.

They can be printed into thin and flexible products and used to stimulate and measure biological tissue.

"These characteristics make them ideal materials to be used for the design of medical devices that interact with neural tissue," she said.

Once developed, the materials could be surgically implanted into the body to stimulate the nervous system on demand, without needing batteries or wires.

As the materials can stimulate nerve cells using different colours of light, they could be used in prosthetic devices for vision.

The study is examining the physical and chemical properties of organic semiconductor materials, along with their biocompatibility [compatibility with living tissue].

This means they can be used to "communicate with nervous system tissue".

After growing nerve cells on these materials, the researchers shine a specific colour of light on them to stimulate or excite the nerve cells.

As they are biocompatible, stimulate nerve cells and can be activated, they could be used for new pharmaceuticals.

Summarized by 365NEWSX ROBOTS

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