Ultrathin photovoltaic devices for stimulation of the peripheral and central nervous system

10th February 2022

Timing : 2 pm EST

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For a list of all talks at the NanoBio seminar Series Spring'22, see here


This talk covers our developments of ultrathin (opto)electronic devices for neurostimulation, particularly of peripheral nerves, and the cortex. We have developed conformal chronically-implantable cuff stimulators which are driven by deep red light. These wavelengths can penetrate through tissue to actuate implants roughly 15 mm below the surface of the skin. Our flagship technology is the organic electrolytic photocapacitor (OEPC) – a device that mimics biphasic current-pulse neurostimulation and thus transduces an optical signal into directly-evoked action potentials in neurons. I will discuss examples of chronic implants capable of stimulating peripheral nerves (sciatic and vagus), the cortical surface, as well as deeper brain structures. These types of minimalistic neurostimulation devices can provide easily-implantable and chronic solutions for novel animal experiments, but also hold potential for clinical translation.



Snow
Eric Glowacki
Bioelectronics Materials and Devices Lab,
CEITEC Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic

Eric Glowacki completed undergraduate studies in Chemistry at the University of Rochester, USA, after which in 2009 he moved for graduate studies to the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. There he completed his PhD in physical chemistry in 2013, specializing in bioelectronic and flexible electronic devices materials. He continued as a postdoc in Linz (2013-2016), with research interests moving into the field of electrophysiology and especially optoelectronic stimulation of excitable cells. In 2016, he was awarded a Wallenberg Molecular Medicine Fellowship, which allowed him to start an independent research group at Linköping University in Sweden. His group has worked on two areas of research, namely neural interface devices, and reactive oxygen species electro/photochemistry. In 2020, he was awarded the European Research Council Starting Grant, with which he moved to Brno, Czech republic, and established a new research group dedicated to bioelectronics at the Brno University of Technology. Eric is interested in neural interface technologies and bioelectronic medicine, as well as fundamental research in electrophysiology. Outside of his direct research topics, Eric is interested in history, open science, and emergency first aid and rescue. Eric is fluent in polish, czech, and english.