Electrical characterization of electronic interfaces to communicate with electrogenic cells in vitro

• Autor(a) principal: Inácio, Pedro Miguel Cavaco Carrilho dos Santos
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/6051
• topic: Bioeletrónica; Biossensores; Biotransístor

This document reflects the work done in the development of new electronic biocompatible and biodegradable materials that allow the construction of implantable transistors in living beings, able to communicate with nerve cells (neurons). These electronic components will be able to repair parts of the nervous tissue and restore communication between the nerve tissues, e.g. repair spinal cord injury. The motivation of this work arises from the need to develop new instruments that help us understand fundamental aspects of biology, in particular on how nerve cells interact with each other and respond to electrical and biochemical stimuli. For this purpose, a search was performed involving various aspects, (i) applying biocompatible materials with electrical properties for constructing transistors, (ii) the study of electrochemical processes occurring at the interface between the transducer and the cell membrane, and (iii ) acquisition and stimulation of bioelectric signals. During investigation were characterized electronic components capable of operating in complex electrolyte media, in particular, capacitors of the type Metal-Insulator- Semiconductor (MIS); electrical noise measurement techniques and spectral analysis for identifying bioelectrical signals were carried out, and were obtained and characterized the bioelectric signals produced by cells when subjected to electrical and extracellular biochemical stimulation. These technical measures prove the possibility to monitor the cells adhesion and their health state, their bioelectric activity and the effect caused by the addition of extracellular stimuli.