Flexible organic transistors can bridge the gap between brain and machine
Flexible organic transistors can bridge the gap between brain and machine lead image
Understanding the brain is a momentous task, and the first step is to interact with it. Sensors need to detect brain activity and devices need to stimulate brain regions. These sensors and devices must be biocompatible, noninvasive, and able to operate with high spatiotemporal resolution.
Organic transistors fit all these criteria, which makes them ideal for neural interfaces. Xu et al. described how these are increasingly used for recording and stimulating neural activity.
“Research interests have gradually shifted from developing high-performance organic transistor units to building flexible and integrated structures that are beneficial to accelerating the convergence between the physical, digital, and biological worlds,” said author Xiaomin Xu.
Organic transistors can be designed to be flexible and stretchable for easier use in wearable electronics. They can also be miniaturized, resulting in arrays where each transistor measures micrometers or nanometers across. The authors outlined multiple ways transistors can be strung together, as well as broader design strategies for more effective arrays.
The team is optimistic about the future of organic transistors and how the arrays will grow in complexity and function.
“Organic multiplexed arrays exhibiting high sampling rates and ultraflexible form factor are still quite rare,” said Xu. “I am excited to see further development of processes to reduce the footprint of each transistor and the space for wirings on the ultrasoft substrate. I am also looking forward to the design of more complicated bioelectronic circuits for safely capturing and stimulating neural activities while amplifying and processing their resulting signals in situ.”
Source: “Flexible organic transistors for neural activity recording,” by Wei Xu, Jingxin Wang, Simin Cheng, and Xiaomin Xu, Applied Physics Reviews (2022). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0102401 .
This paper is part of the Flexible and Smart Electronics Collection, learn more here .
