neurotransmission
The bioelectronic neural pixel: Chemical stimulation and electrical sensing at the same site. A small device both detects the initial signal of an epileptic attack and doses a substance that effectively stops it. All this takes place where the signal arises – in an area of size 20×20 μm known as a “neural pixel.” According to a recently produced estimate, no less than 6% of the Earth’s population suffers from some type of neurological illness such as epilepsy or Parkinson’s. Some medicines are available, but when these are taken orally or injected into the bloodstream, they also end up where they aren’t needed and may cause serious problems. All medicines have more or less severe side effects.
The small 20×20 μm device developed by the scientists can both capture signals and stop them in the exact area of nerve cells where they arise. The experiments were conducted in the laboratory on slices of brains from mice. The device consists of a sensor that detects nerve signals, and a small ion pump that doses an exact amount of neurotransmitter GABA, a substance the body itself uses to inhibit stimuli in the central nervous system.
Bioelectronic neural pixel: Chemical stimulation and electrical sensing at the same site
“The same electrode that registers the activity in the cell can also deliver the transmitter. We call it a bioelectronic ‘neural pixel’, since it imitates functions of biological neurons,” says Daniel Simon. “When a signal is transferred to another cell, the identification of the signal and the triggering of a new one occur within a very small distance – only a few nanometers. In certain cases, it happens at the same point. That’s why being able to combine electronic detection and release in the same electrode is a major advance,” says Professor Magnus Berggren.
Basic measurement circuit and regions of source and target reservoir wells. The reservoir wells, cut from cured PDMS, were affixed to the specific source (reservoir) and target (bath) areas as shown by green dashed lines in the figure.
The small ion pump, which was developed at the Laboratory for Organic Electronics, attracted a great deal of attention when it´s first application as a therapeutic device was published a year ago. The sensor that captures the nerve signal has subsequently been developed by the LiU researchers’ collaborators at the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines in Gardanne, France. The mouse experiments were performed at Aix-Marseille University. The entire device is manufactured from conductive, biocompatible plastic. http://liu.se/forskning/forskningsnyheter/1.691931?l=en&sc=true
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