Sustainability inspired fabrication of next generation neurostimulation and cardiac rhythm management electrodes via reactive hierarchical surface restructuring.

Over the last two decades, platinum group metals (PGMs) and their alloys have dominated as the materials of choice for electrodes in long-term implantable neurostimulation and cardiac rhythm management devices due to their superior conductivity, mechanical and chemical stability, biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, radiopacity, and electrochemical performance. Despite these benefits, PGM manufacturing processes are extremely costly, complex, and challenging with potential health hazards. Additionally, the volatility in PGM prices and their high supply risk, combined with their scarce concentration of approximately 0.

Development of antibacterial neural stimulation electrodes via hierarchical surface restructuring and atomic layer deposition.

Miniaturization and electrochemical performance enhancement of electrodes and microelectrode arrays in emerging long-term implantable neural stimulation devices improves specificity, functionality, and performance of these devices. However, surgical site and post-implantation infections are amongst the most devastating complications after surgical procedures and implantations. Additionally, with the increased use of antibiotics, the threat of antibiotic resistance is significant and is increasingly being recognized as a global problem.

Femtosecond laser hierarchical surface restructuring for next generation neural interfacing electrodes and microelectrode arrays.

Long-term implantable neural interfacing devices are able to diagnose, monitor, and treat many cardiac, neurological, retinal and hearing disorders through nerve stimulation, as well as sensing and recording electrical signals to and from neural tissue. To improve specificity, functionality, and performance of these devices, the electrodes and microelectrode arrays-that are the basis of most emerging devices-must be further miniaturized and must possess exceptional electrochemical performance and charge exchange characteristics with neural tissue. In this report, we show for the first time that the electrochemical performance of femtosecond-laser hierarchically-restructured electrodes can be tuned to yield unprecedented performance values that significantly exceed those reported in the literature, e.