Immobilized liquid coatings for implantable neural electronics

Statement of Purpose: Implantable neural electronics are clinically important in many treatments such as deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease, mapping of epileptic foci for surgical resection of the zone as well as in the development of brain-machine interfaces (BMI) for paralyzed individuals. Traditionally, implantable electronics much more resemble the electronics that are used in our everyday technology (computers, phones) than the tissue that surrounds such devices. For this reason, implantable electronics suffer from many limitations that prevent them from realizing full clinical impact. Such limitations include chronic biocompatibility, chronic electronic performance (e.g. biofouling, dielectric degradation) and significant surgical trauma from their implantation. Here, we have investigated immobilized liquid coatings on implantable electronics. Such coatings consist of a water-immiscible liquids (oil) that are anchored to the implant surface by being infused within an elastomer network to shield neural probes from surrounding tissue. Immobilized liquid coatings are slippery (ultralow sliding angles); others have been shown these coatings resist blood cell adhesion and bacterial biofouling. We investigate how such liquid coatings can benefit neural probe applications.