Presentation Type
Poster
“Fabrication of Silicon and Silicon Carbide Brain Probes for Testing of Long-Term In-Vivo Biocompatibility in Wild-Type Mice”
Abstract
“Fabrication of Silicon and Silicon Carbide Brain Probes for Testing of Long-Term In-Vivo Biocompatibility in Wild-Type Mice”
Objective:
There is great need for neural prosthetics that are minimally invasive and that do not cause device encapsulation and scarring of neural tissue. This research, based on extremely promising in vitro and preliminary in vivo studies, involves the fabrication of silicon carbide (SiC) needle-like shanks to test the biocompatibility of this promising material.
Methods:
Shanks for in vivo implantation were prepared via photolithography techniques utilizing a 20 um cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) film grown on 50 mm (100) silicon wafers. The final product is two triangular shanks 7 mm in length. The shanks were implanted into C57BL6/J mouse cortexes for controlled time intervals. Immunohistological staining and fluorescent microscopy investigated the tissue and shanks using CD45, an antibody associated with activated microglia, and GFAP, an antibody associated with activated astrocytes. Si exhibited an abundance of activated astrocytes, whereas the 3C-SiC did not.
Conclusion:
Preliminary results show 3C SiC as a promising candidate for in-vivo neural prosthetics. The complete study of Si and 3C-SiC shanks will provide further information on the biocompatibility of these materials leading to more focused neural prosthetic device development.
Categories
Engineering/Physical Science
Research Type
Research Assistant
Mentor Information
Dr. Stephen Saddow
“Fabrication of Silicon and Silicon Carbide Brain Probes for Testing of Long-Term In-Vivo Biocompatibility in Wild-Type Mice”
“Fabrication of Silicon and Silicon Carbide Brain Probes for Testing of Long-Term In-Vivo Biocompatibility in Wild-Type Mice”
Objective:
There is great need for neural prosthetics that are minimally invasive and that do not cause device encapsulation and scarring of neural tissue. This research, based on extremely promising in vitro and preliminary in vivo studies, involves the fabrication of silicon carbide (SiC) needle-like shanks to test the biocompatibility of this promising material.
Methods:
Shanks for in vivo implantation were prepared via photolithography techniques utilizing a 20 um cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) film grown on 50 mm (100) silicon wafers. The final product is two triangular shanks 7 mm in length. The shanks were implanted into C57BL6/J mouse cortexes for controlled time intervals. Immunohistological staining and fluorescent microscopy investigated the tissue and shanks using CD45, an antibody associated with activated microglia, and GFAP, an antibody associated with activated astrocytes. Si exhibited an abundance of activated astrocytes, whereas the 3C-SiC did not.
Conclusion:
Preliminary results show 3C SiC as a promising candidate for in-vivo neural prosthetics. The complete study of Si and 3C-SiC shanks will provide further information on the biocompatibility of these materials leading to more focused neural prosthetic device development.
