Creating a New Wave of Bioelectronics.

• Position: LASERS

On a simple coffee table sits an inexpensive commercial laser cutter, usually meant for modifying wood or plastic. However, in the lab of University of Chicago scientists Vishnu Nair and Bozhi Tian, what comes out is not engraved wood but a small bioelectronic device that could save lives.

It all starts with a compound called polydimethylsiloxane, or PDMS, which is a type of elastomer--a very elastic, stretchable material. However, a laser can transform the PDMS into a dense silicon carbide layer that is useful for electronics.

This property can be used to sculpt bioelectronics in a way that is cheaper and easier than traditional fabrication, while being easy to scale up to make in large quantities--a must for any product to be manufactured for common use.

"It's a new paradigm in bioelectronics," says Nair, a postdoctoral scholar at the School of Molecular Engineering and lead author of a paper published in the journal Science Advances. "This technology could potentially be scaled up to create high-quality human pacemakers or other medical applications."

The combination of a soft PDMS that can wrap around organic tissues, and a hard silicon carbide that can support electronics is key, the researchers indicate.

The soft component especially is important in order to attach to soft and deformable cells; a mechanical mismatch between a bioelectronic device and the cell can mean loss of functionality. Meanwhile, silicon carbide is particularly good for this application because it does not degrade in the conditions inside a...