Scientists have developed an artificial skeleton-like material via a chemical process and the method could pave way for a new and better way to integrate medical devices into the body.
The researchers from the University of Chicago have made the first skeleton-like silicon spicules prepared through a chemical process. They said that the breakthrough shows potentials for improving interaction between implantable medical devices and soft biological tissues as well as open up new doors for developing electronics that enhance sensing and stimulation at biointerfaces.
Study researcher Bozhi Tian, from the Department of Chemistry of the University of Chicago, and colleagues came up with a new method to synthesize and fabricate three-dimensional semiconductors. They developed a pressure modulation synthesis with the aim of promoting the growth of silicon nanowires and induce the gold-based patterns in the silicon with gold acting as the growth catalyst of the silicon.
The researchers were able to control the precipitation and diffusion of the gold along the faceted surfaces of the silicon by repeatedly increasing and decreasing the pressures on the samples.
Study author Yuanwen Jiang explained that that the idea of using deposition-diffusion cycles has applications in synthesizing more complex three dimensional semiconductors.
Testing revealed that the synthetic silicon structures were characterized by stronger interactions with collagen fibers compared with currently available silicon structures with the researchers inserting the synthetic spicules and the other silicon structures into collagen fibers then pulling these out.
Tian said that one of the major obstacles in the field of bioelectronics or implants is that the interface between soft tissues or organs and electronic device is not robust. The spicules though showed promise for clearing this problem as these penetrated easily into the collagen and became deeply rooted.
"Compared to other more uniform silicon structures, the anisotropic spicule requires greater force for detachment from collagen hydrogels, suggesting enhanced interfacial interactions at the mesoscale," the researchers reported their findings in a study published in the journal Science on June 26.
Joe Akkara, from the National Science Foundation, which funded the research, said that the breakthrough shows the power of basic scientific research with the team able to create a material that appears to enhance soft tissue function. Akkara said that by using bone formation as their guide, the researchers were able to develop the material from silicon that shows promise in improving interaction between hard materials and soft tissue.
