Fraunhofer to investigate biodegradable electronics for active implants
A year into this project, research partners Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS, the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT, the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC, and the Fraunhofer Resource Recycling and Strategy Project Group IWKS and Fraunhofer FEP will present their first results during Semicon Europe 2017 as part of productronica 2017 in Munich.
Electronic components that can be completely broken down in a biological environment after a pre-defined operating life open up novel applications as well as ways for reducing their ecological footprint. For this purpose Fraunhofer FEP has developed vacuum technologies for the manufacture of biodegradable conductive traces on biodegradable substrates. Active medical implants built with biodegradable component could be resorbed by tissue, sparing the patient a second surgical intervention for implant removal after its useful operating life.
The Fraunhofer Gesellschaft e. V. is now funding the “bioElektron – Biodegradable Electronics for Active Implants” project through its in-house program (funding No. MAVO B31 301).
This project will focus on the development of essential components for biodegradable electronic parts to be employed for example in an implant. These include biodegradable conductor structures, biodegradable electrodes for collecting electrical signals or delivering electrical stimulation (for example for brain monitoring), biodegradable thin-film transistors and circuitry and all their associated moisture and gas barrier coatings and electrical insulation layers. All such elements ought to be monolithically integrated into a flexible thin-film device.
Magnesium is known for being a biodegradable and biologically compatible metal and is already employed in clinical environments as an absorbable implant material. Relying on vacuum-based thermal evaporation and deposition processes, Fraunhofer FEP is developing conductor structures and organic thin-film transistors based on magnesium. The challenge consists of depositing this metal upon biodegradable polymer films that magnesium does not adhere sufficiently to under normal process control. By suitably pre-treating the substrates using a combination of drying, plasma treatment, and seed layers, finely structured high-quality conductor structures can be produced.
“We are now prepared to discuss these results with interested partners from industry and the scientific community during productronica 2017 at the Silicon-Saxony joint booth (Hall B1, Booth B1-416) in order to be able to implement them in current practical applications”, explains Dr. Michael Hoffmann from Fraunhofer FEP and head of the bioElektron project.
bioELEKTRON – www.fep.fraunhofer.de/en/ueber-uns/projekte/bioElektron.html
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