In order to speed up the repair speed of nerve damage, Israel Institute of Technologyand University of Chicago developed a new material that can generate electric current through external light sources to stimulate the recovery of damaged nerve tissue.
This ultra-thin material can be wrapped around damaged nerves in the body. Even if the wound is closed, it can perform photoelectric conversion to accelerate repair.
The material is understood to have increased the speed of nerve repair in rats by 33%, and is now being developed and tested on humans.
(Source: Israel Institute of Technology official website)
Recently, a related paper titled "Porosity-based heterojunctions enable leadless optoelectronic modulation of tissues" was published in Nature Materials on [1].
The research was led by Hemi Rotenberg, an assistant professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, and Tian Bozhi, a professor in the Department of Physical Chemistry at the University of Chicago.
It is understood that nervous tissue is a biological platform for transmitting information between different parts of the body. For example, the peripheral nervous system controls many activities of the body, including muscle activation, transmission of sensory information, etc. Damage to it can lead to paralysis, numbness and chronic pain. Although peripheral nerves are capable of regeneration, the process is slow and results are limited.
"After peripheral nerve damage , the nerves regenerate, but they grow more slowly, and people can suffer significant damage during this period. Our goal is to speed up this process." Rotenberg on the official website of the Israel Institute of Technology explain.
It is understood that some current medical interventions can enhance the recovery of damaged nerves. One of the treatment solutions is electrical stimulation, the effectiveness of which has been proven in many studies. But this approach often involves invasive surgery that can damage body tissue. This research may eliminate the need for electrode implants in the future.
Specifically, the researchers created a new semiconductor device that adopts a flexible ultra-thin film configuration and can be well connected with biological tissue . Near-infrared light is projected onto the skin, where it hits a membrane made of the new material, and the light activates damaged neural tissue.
It is worth mentioning that the paper also mentioned that the film made of silicon-based materials can be used to wrap damaged nerve tissue, or in cardiac pacing (implantation of artificial pacemaker to stimulate the heart ), it wraps around the heart itself and can be removed from the body without surgery. It can be absorbed in the body but does not produce any toxicity.
(Source: Nature Materials)
"What we developed is a photovoltaic material, that is, a material that converts light energy into electrical energy that affects neural tissue. In the paper, we demonstrate the efficacy of this new substance in two different contexts , cardiac pacing and activation of the peripheral nervous system," Rotenberg continued to explain on the school's official website.
It is understood that the material developed by the researchers is also unique in that it is a semiconductor diode junction formed from a single type of silicon. Usually diodes are made by connecting two types of silicon (P-type semiconductor and N-type semiconductor), and the interface between the two forms an empty PN junction.
The connection between two different materials is a very complex technical challenge. This new material is made only of P-type silicon, and the junction is composed of ordinary silicon and porous silicon, so the findings presented in this study are of certain importance. sex.
Rotenberg also introduced on the official website that the new material came from an accident. At that time, he accidentally used a pair of metal tweezers in the laboratory and inadvertently provided iron ions to the solution.As a result, iron ions catalyzed the formation of nanopores on the silicon surface.
It is understood that after further research and development, this ultra-thin material can not only be used to repair damaged nerves, but also play a role in temporary cardiac pacing, helping patients during surgery by stimulating the heart and activating the peripheral nervous system. After recovery, avoid discomfort caused to people when inserting and removing electrodes.
In addition, this new material is a window. In addition to external effects on the tissues of the patient's body in the medical field, the new development is expected to make a significant contribution to various applications, such as in the field of renewable energy.
Since renewable energy sources such as solar energy cannot operate at a constant intensity throughout the day, energy storage becomes a major challenge in promoting the use of these energy sources. One trend in this area is to use the power of solar radiation to split water to produce hydrogen , and hydrogen is a storable energy source. New materials may accelerate the development of more advanced and efficient solar devices.
Reference: 1.Prominski, A., Shi, J., Li, P. et. al. Porosity-based heterojunctions enable leadless optoelectronic modulation of tissues. Nat. Mater. 21, 647–655 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01249-7https://www.technion. ac.il/en/2022/06/window-nervous-system-new-material/
On the official website of the Israel Institute of Technology, Rotenberg said: "This material will be widely used in humans in 3 to 5 years."
