The image shows a flexible electrode that is connected to a nerve. The nerve is represented as a purple colored tube. The electrode consists of six circular metal parts each equipped with a small tip that goes into the nerve. A metallic conducting track leads to any of these electrode ends. The tracks are embedded in a transparent band.
A flexible electrode connected to a nerve (Image: Philipp Rinklin / TUM)

, Biosensoren & Smart Medical Devices, News

Developing flexible electrodes for medical applications

Collaboration between NTT Research and the Technical University of Munich

The Medical and Health Informatics (MEI) lab of NTT Research, a division of the telecommunications company NTT, and the Neuroelectronics Group at the Munich School of BioEngineering (MSB) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have started a scientific collaboration. The goal of the joint research is to develop novel flexible electrodes for medical applications. As a part of this collaboration, NTT Research has opened a research office in Munich.

The project will focus on research in the field of novel bioelectronic technologies. The long-term goal is to develop implantable sensors that can measure neural activity and thus continuously monitor changes in the health status of a patient. The collaboration involves, in particular, three-dimensionally transformable and implantable electrodes. The scope for this multi-year research project includes screening and optimizing functional materials, assembling 3D structures and evaluating their biocompatibility.

The MEI Lab office in Munich, is located between TUM’s City Campus and the Garching Campus. The office is another sign of NTT Research's commitment to this venture.

Joint research in neureolectronics

The Neuroelectronics Group at TUM is led by Dr. Bernard Wolfrum, Professor of Neuroelectronics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and at the Munich School of BioEngineering (MSB). In the context of this collaboration, Dr. Tetsuhiko Teshima has now joined the group – he began his three-year appointment as Research Scientist in the MEI Lab and Visiting Researcher in TUM’s Neuroelectronics Group on 1 March 2020. Dr Teshima is an expert in nanomaterials and has already conducted research on bio-interfaces, soft matter, and other areas that overlap with specialties of the Neuroelectronics Group. Important parts of the experimental work within the project will be performed at ZEITlab, the Central Electronics and Information Technology Laboratory at TUM’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

“We are delighted to officially open our new branch office, in support of this promising endeavor with the Technical University of Munich,” said Hitonobu Tomoike, M.D., Ph.D., and MEI Lab Director. “We are convinced that we can provide Dr. Teshima with an excellent research environment. Together, we will be able to make significant progress in the development of flexible electrodes with high biocompatibility”, emphasizes Dr. Wolfrum.

Towards flexible electrodes

Dr. Teshima’s  plan in Munich is first to study conductive and biocompatible materials and new printing techniques as well as to measure the electrochemical properties of electrodes created using these techniques; then to develop new types of nanomaterial-based sensors that can work inside the body and to obtain data from the targeted tissues using these new sensors. Finally, he will work with NTT Research data scientists to develop automated predictive and diagnostic tools.

The first project that Dr. Teshima is engaged in involves adding “transformability”, or the ability to change dimensions, to conventional electrodes. Related work in this area includes the questions of which stimuli can generate shape transformation and what changes in electrical or electro-chemical properties are associated with electrode transformation.

In contrast to hard, brittle 2D-electrodes, semiconductors and sensors that are widely available today, Dr. Teshima anticipates a paradigm shift. “I believe that some types of soft, flexible and transformable products will be commercially available, especially in medical fields in the next five years,” he says.
 

About NTT Research

NTT Research opened its Palo Alto offices in July 2019 as a new Silicon Valley startup to conduct basic research and advance technologies that promote positive change for humankind. Currently, three labs are housed at NTT Research: the Physics and Informatics (PHI) Lab, the Cryptography and Information Security (CIS) Lab, and the Medical and Health Informatics (MEI) Lab. The organization aims to upgrade reality in three areas: 1) quantum information, neuro-science and photonics; 2) cryptographic and information security; and 3) medical and health informatics. NTT Research is part of NTT, a global technology and business solutions provider with an annual R&D budget of $3.6 billion.

More Information

Prof. Bernhard Wolfrum

 

Neuroelectronics group

Medical and Health Informatics Laboratories at NTT Research

Interview with Tetsuhiko Teshima on the MEI Lab Website: Bridging the Biological and Engineering Worlds: Tetsuhiko Teshima Tells His Story

Central Electronics and Information Technology Laboratory at TUM's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering – ZEITlab

MSB News:

9.7.2018 | Producing sensors with an inkjet printer: Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) can be printed on gelatin and other soft materials

Media Relations MSB

Dr. Paul Piwnicki
Technical University of Munich
Munich School of BioEngineering
Tel: +49 (89) 289 10808
E-Mail: paul.piwnicki(at)tum.de

Scientific Contact MSB/TUM

Prof. Bernhard Wolfrum
Technical University of Munich
Neuroelectronics Group
Tel: +49 (89) 289 10887
E-Mail: bernhard.wolfrum(at)tum.de

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