The rise of the cyborgs: Scientists reveal new method to 'grow' electronic sensors inside human tissue
Cyborgs melding human and robotic technology together have finally come a step closer to reality.
Researchers at MIT in Boston have revealed a new technique that can place sensors inside human tissue.
To control the three-dimensional shape of engineered tissue, researchers grow cells on tiny, sponge-like scaffolds.
These devices can be implanted into patients or used in the lab to study tissue responses to potential drugs.
A team of researchers from MIT, Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital has now added a new element to tissue scaffolds: electronic sensors.
These sensors, made of silicon nanowires, could be used to monitor electrical activity in the tissue surrounding the scaffold, control drug release or screen drug candidates for their effects on the beating of heart tissue.
‘We are very excited about this study,’ Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT and a senior author of the paper said.
‘It brings us one step closer to someday creating a tissue-engineered heart, and it shows how novel nanomaterials can play a role in this field.’
The researchers built their new scaffold out of epoxy, a nontoxic material that can take on a porous, 3-D structure.
Silicon nanowires embedded in the scaffold carry electrical signals to and from cells grown within the structure.
‘The scaffold is not just a mechanical support for cells, it contains multiple sensors.
‘We seed cells into the scaffold and eventually it becomes a 3-D engineered tissue,’ Tian says.