bioelectronics

{{short description|Field of research in the convergence of biology and electronics}}

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Bioelectronics is a field of research in the convergence of biology and electronics.

Definitions

At the first C.E.C. Workshop, in Brussels in November 1991, bioelectronics was defined as 'the use of biological materials and biological architectures for information processing systems and new devices'.{{cn|date=May 2025}} Bioelectronics, specifically bio-molecular electronics, were described as 'the research and development of bio-inspired (i.e. self-assembly) inorganic and organic materials and of bio-inspired (i.e. massive parallelism) hardware architectures for the implementation of new information processing systems, sensors and actuators, and for molecular manufacturing down to the atomic scale'.{{cite journal | vauthors = Nicolini C | title = From neural chip and engineered biomolecules to bioelectronic devices: an overview | journal = Biosensors & Bioelectronics | volume = 10 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 105–27 | year = 1995 | pmid = 7734117 | doi = 10.1016/0956-5663(95)96799-5 }}

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the United States Department of Commerce, defined bioelectronics in a 2009 report as "the discipline resulting from the convergence of biology and electronics".{{cite web |url = https://www.nist.gov/pml/div683/upload/bioelectronics_report.pdf |title = A Framework for Bioelectronics: Discovery and Innovation |publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology|pages =42|date =February 2009}}{{rp|5}}

Sources for information about the field include the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) with its Elsevier journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics published since 1990. The journal describes the scope of bioelectronics as seeking to : "... exploit biology in conjunction with electronics in a wider context encompassing, for example, biological fuel cells, bionics and biomaterials for information processing, information storage, electronic components and actuators. A key aspect is the interface between biological materials and micro and nano-electronics."{{cite web |url = https://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405913/authorinstructions |title = Biosensors and Bioelectronics |publisher=Elsevier}}

History

The first known study of bioelectronics took place in the 18th century when Italian physician-scientist Luigi Galvani applied a voltage to a pair of detached frog legs. The legs moved, sparking the genesis of bioelectronics.{{Cite journal|vauthors=Rivnay J, Owens RM, Malliaras GG |date=2014-01-14|title=The Rise of Organic Bioelectronics |journal=Chemistry of Materials|volume=26|issue=1|pages=679–685|doi=10.1021/cm4022003 }} Electronics technology has been applied to biology and medicine since the pacemaker was invented and with the medical imaging industry. In 2009, a survey of publications using the term in title or abstract suggested that the center of activity was in Europe (43 percent), followed by Asia (23 percent) and the United States (20 percent).{{rp|6}}

Materials

Organic bioelectronics is the application of organic electronic material to the field of bioelectronics. Organic materials (i.e. containing carbon) show great promise when it comes to interfacing with biological systems.{{cite journal | vauthors = Owens R, Kjall P, Richter-Dahlfors A, Cicoira F | title = Organic bioelectronics - novel applications in biomedicine. Preface | journal = Biochimica et Biophysica Acta | volume = 1830 | issue = 9 | pages = 4283–5 | date = September 2013 | pmid = 23623969 | doi = 10.1016/j.bbagen.2013.04.025 }} Current applications focus around neuroscience{{cite journal | vauthors = Simon DT, Larsson KC, Nilsson D, Burström G, Galter D, Berggren M, Richter-Dahlfors A | title = An organic electronic biomimetic neuron enables auto-regulated neuromodulation | journal = Biosensors & Bioelectronics | volume = 71 | pages = 359–364 | date = September 2015 | pmid = 25932795 | doi = 10.1016/j.bios.2015.04.058 | url = https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-120203 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Jonsson A, Song Z, Nilsson D, Meyerson BA, Simon DT, Linderoth B, Berggren M | title = Therapy using implanted organic bioelectronics | journal = Science Advances | volume = 1 | issue = 4 | pages = e1500039 | date = May 2015 | pmid = 26601181 | pmc = 4640645 | doi = 10.1126/sciadv.1500039 | bibcode = 2015SciA....1E0039J }} and infection.{{cite journal| vauthors = Löffler S, Libberton B, Richter-Dahlfors A |title=Organic bioelectronics in infection|journal=Journal of Materials Chemistry B|volume=3|issue=25|pages=4979–4992|doi=10.1039/C5TB00382B |year=2015|pmid=32262450|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal| vauthors = Löffler S, Libberton B, Richter-Dahlfors A |title=Organic Bioelectronic Tools for Biomedical Applications |journal=Electronics |date=November 2015 |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=879–908 |doi=10.3390/electronics4040879 |doi-access=free }}

Conducting polymer coatings, an organic electronic material, shows massive improvement in the technology of materials.{{cn|date=May 2025}} It was the most sophisticated form of electrical stimulation. It improved the impedance of electrodes in electrical stimulation, resulting in better recordings and reducing "harmful electrochemical side reactions." Organic Electrochemical Transistors (OECT) were invented in 1984 by Mark Wrighton and colleagues, which had the ability to transport ions. This improved signal-to-noise ratio and gives for low measured impedance. The Organic Electronic Ion Pump (OEIP), a device that could be used to target specific body parts and organs to adhere medicine, was created by Magnuss Berggren.

As one of the few materials well established in CMOS technology, titanium nitride (TiN) turned out as exceptionally stable and well suited for electrode applications in medical implants.{{cite journal | vauthors = Hämmerle H, Kobuch K, Kohler K, Nisch W, Sachs H, Stelzle M | title = Biostability of micro-photodiode arrays for subretinal implantation | journal = Biomaterials | volume = 23 | issue = 3 | pages = 797–804 | date = February 2002 | pmid = 11771699 | doi = 10.1016/S0142-9612(01)00185-5 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Glogener P, Krause M, Katzer J, Schubert MA, Birkholz M, Bellmann O, Kröger-Koch C, Hammonn HM, Metges CC, Welsch C, Ruff R, Hoffmann KP |title=Prolonged corrosion stability of a microchip sensor implant during in vivo exposure |journal=Biosensors |date=2018|volume=8|issue=1|pages=13 | doi=10.3390/bios8010013 | pmid=29389853 |pmc=5872061 |doi-access=free}}

Significant applications

Bioelectronics is used to help improve the lives of people with disabilities and diseases. For example, the glucose monitor is a portable device that allows diabetic patients to control and measure their blood sugar levels. Electrical stimulation used to treat patients with epilepsy, chronic pain, Parkinson's, deafness, Essential Tremor and blindness.{{cite journal | vauthors = Simon DT, Gabrielsson EO, Tybrandt K, Berggren M | title = Organic Bioelectronics: Bridging the Signaling Gap between Biology and Technology | journal = Chemical Reviews | volume = 116 | issue = 21 | pages = 13009–13041 | date = November 2016 | pmid = 27367172 | doi = 10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00146 | doi-access = free }}{{cite web |url=https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/reviews/DEN170028.pdf |title=DE NOVO CLASSIFICATION REQUEST FOR CALA ONE |accessdate=2021-09-11 }} Magnuss Berggren and colleagues created a variation of his OEIP, the first bioelectronic implant device that was used in a living, free animal for therapeutic reasons. It transmitted electric currents into GABA, an acid. A lack of GABA in the body is a factor in chronic pain. GABA would then be dispersed properly to the damaged nerves, acting as a painkiller. Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) is used to activate the Cholinergic Anti-inflammatory Pathway (CAP) in the vagus nerve, ending in reduced inflammation in patients with diseases like arthritis. Since patients with depression and epilepsy are more vulnerable to having a closed CAP, VNS can aid them as well.{{cite journal | vauthors = Koopman FA, Schuurman PR, Vervoordeldonk MJ, Tak PP | title = Vagus nerve stimulation: a new bioelectronics approach to treat rheumatoid arthritis? | journal = Best Practice & Research. Clinical Rheumatology | volume = 28 | issue = 4 | pages = 625–35 | date = August 2014 | pmid = 25481554 | doi = 10.1016/j.berh.2014.10.015 | doi-access = free }} At the same time, not all the systems that have electronics used to help improving the lives of people are necessarily bioelectronic devices, but only those which involve an intimate and directly interface of electronics and biological systems.{{cite book | vauthors = Carrara S, Iniewski K | title = Handbook of Bioelectronics | publisher= Cambridge University Press | pages = 1–569 | date = 2015 | doi = 10.1017/CBO9781139629539 | isbn = 9781139629539 | editor1-last = Carrara | editor1-first = Sandro | editor2-last = Iniewski | editor2-first = Krzysztof }}

Bioelectronics could be used to develop new label-free methods for monitoring cancer cell invasion and drug resistance. For example, the electrical resistance of cancer cells could be used to predict the effectiveness of cancer drugs and to identify drugs that are most likely to be effective against a particular type of cancer.{{cite journal |last1=Gharooni |first1=Milad |last2=Alikhani |first2=Alireza |last3=Moghtaderi |first3=Hassan |last4=Abiri |first4=Hamed |last5=Mashaghi |first5=Alireza |last6=Abbasvandi |first6=Fereshteh |last7=Khayamian |first7=Mohammad Ali |last8=Miripour |first8=Zohreh sadat |last9=Zandi |first9=Ashkan |last10=Abdolahad |first10=Mohammad |title=Bioelectronics of The Cellular Cytoskeleton: Monitoring Cytoskeletal Conductance Variation for Sensing Drug Resistance |journal=ACS Sensors |date=22 February 2019 |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=353–362 |doi=10.1021/acssensors.8b01142|pmid=30572702 }}

Future

The improvement of standards and tools to monitor the state of cells at subcellular resolutions is lacking funding and employment.{{cn|date=May 2025}} This is a problem because advances in other fields of science are beginning to analyze large cell populations, increasing the need for a device that can monitor cells at such a level of sight. Cells cannot be used in many ways other than their main purpose, like detecting harmful substances. Merging this science with forms of nanotechnology could result in incredibly accurate detection methods. The preserving of human lives like protecting against bioterrorism is the biggest area of work being done in bioelectronics. Governments are starting to demand devices and materials that detect chemical and biological threats. The more the size of the devices decrease, there will be an increase in performance and capabilities. Also, it can replant the amputees' limbs.

Human limb replantation

When your limb is cut off, the small device is implanted next to the stump. The small device sends electricity to the wound that makes cells multiply instead of heal. and it grows into bone, muscle, and nerve cells. After it regrows, you'll have a new fully functional limb. It works for amputated fingers, hands, arms, shoulders, toes, feet, legs and thighs.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

References

External links

{{wiktionary-inline|bioelectronics}}
[http://www.answers.com/topic/bioelectronics-1 Biolectronics] at Answers.com

Category:Electronics

Category:Biotechnology