Biodegradable germanium electronics for integrated biosensing of physiological signals

Abstract

Transient electronics that can disappear or degrade via physical disintegration or chemical reaction over a pre-defined operational period provide essential for their applications in implantable bioelectronics due to the complete elimination of the second surgical extraction. However, the dissolution of commonly utilized bioresorbable materials often accompanies hydrogen production, which may cause potential or irreparable harm to the human body. This paper introduces germanium nanomembrane-based bioresorbable electronic sensors, where the chemical dissolution of all utilized materials in biofluidic theoretically have no gaseous products. In particular, the superior electronic transport of germanium enables the demonstrated bioresorbable electronic sensors to successfully distinguish the crosstalk of different physiological signals, such as temperature and strain, suggesting the significant prospect for the construction of dual or multi-parameter biosensors. Systematical studies reveal the gauge factor and temperature coefficient of resistance comparable to otherwise similar devices with gaseous products during their dissolution.

Zinc hybrid sintering for printed transient sensors and wireless electronics

“…A similar setup shown in previous research was used to drive the primary coil 64 , and the peak-to-peak voltage elicited in the biodegradable receiver as a function of the distance to the primary coil is shown in Supplementary Fig. 13.…”

“…electronic components and devices that fully degrade in a given environment without generating harmful byproducts 1,2 , show potential in reducing electronic waste [3][4][5] , and enable novel bioresorbable implants, eliminating the need for a re-operation [6][7][8] . Different materials such as dissolvable metals [9][10][11] , degradable semi-conductors 2,12,13 , substrates and dielectrics [14][15][16][17][18] have been proposed. These developments have led to various devices being demonstrated, including batteries [19][20][21] , heaters 22,23 , transistors 24,25 , energy harvesters 26,27 , as well as pressure [28][29][30] , strain 31 , and temperature sensors 32 .…”

Advances in Bioresorbable Materials and Electronics

“…The first examples of such types of devices involved ultrathin transistors and logic gates embedded in films of silk fibroin, as partially resorbable systems that incorporate semiconductor components . Subsequent research defined broad classes of bioresorbable materials for conductors, , semiconductors, , and insulators, , as the basis for advanced, integrated systems with wide ranging diagnostic and therapeutic functions. − Combining such platforms with wearable sensors and wireless controllers enables closed-loop, multimodal operation …”

Soft, bioresorbable, transparent microelectrode arrays for multimodal spatiotemporal mapping and modulation of cardiac physiology

“…There has been much recent work on soft bioresorbable electronic devices (18)(19)(20). Examples include cardiac pacemakers to treat cardiac arrhythmias (21), peripheral nerve stimulators for pain block (22), electrical sensors to map activity from the cerebral cortex (23) or record physiological signals (24), electrotherapy systems to provide electrostimulation and impedance sensing (25), chemical sensors to monitor critical biomarkers in various organs (26), etc. However, developments in soft transparent MEAs that exhibit bioresorbable functionality remain limited and challenging.…”