 Closed-loop Chemical Stress Testing of Bioelectronic Implantable Neurotechnology Michael Villegas and Joshua Ciorciari Authors: Michael Villegas, Joshua Ciorciari, Ladan Jiracek, Jack Judy Faculty Mentor: Jack Judy, PhD College: College of Engineering Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering |
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AbstractThe fabrication of neuro-implants requires complex ingenuity because of all the factors that must be considered when inserting a foreign object inside the human body. Because of this, when testing the effectiveness of a brain implant, we must determine if it will withstand the harsh conditions of the human body. This project will focus on creating a closed-loop system to mimic body-like conditions. Reactive accelerated aging (RAA) is an effective method to test the durability of a neural implant. This technique exposes the neural implant to a heated solution of Hydrogen Peroxide for a given time and causes the implant to deteriorate more quickly. As of now, it is common to measure the concentration of solutions using colorimetric assays. This procedure causes the test sample to change color based on the concentration of your solution and has limited accuracy. Therefore, an in-house H2O2 sensor has been fabricated to increase the accuracy of our measurements. The sensors were fabricated by inserting a platinum wire into a glass capillary, pulling the glass so that only a cross section of the wire is exposed, and polishing the glass so that the tip is smooth and uniform. Then, chronoamperometry was performed by applying a potential across the solution and measuring the current response. Chronoamperometry allows us to measure the current responses that correspond to different H2O2 concentrations and create a calibration curve. This method is far more effective than colorimetric assay testing and allows for the RAA system to be automated.
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Poster
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