Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Department of Science and Technology, Linköping University, 601 74 Norrköping, Sweden.
Soft Matter. 2017 Nov 15;13(44):8171-8177. doi: 10.1039/c7sm01732d.
Technology interfaces which can imitate the chemically specific signaling of nervous tissues are attractive for studying and developing therapies for neurological disorders. As the signaling in nervous tissue is highly spatiotemporal in nature, an interfacing technology should provide local neurotransmitter release in the millisecond range. To obtain such a speed, the neurotransmitters must be stored close to the release point, while avoiding substantial passive leakage. Here we theoretically investigate whether ionic bipolar diodes can be used for this purpose. We find that if a sufficiently large reverse potential is applied, the passive leakage can be suppressed to negligible levels due to the high local electric field within the bipolar diode. The influences of various design parameters are studied to determine the optimal design and operation. Finally, the delivery speed of the component is evaluated using time-dependent simulations, which show that the release of neurotransmitters to physiologically relevant concentrations can be achieved in less than 10 ms. Altogether, the results suggest that ionic bipolar diodes constitute a highly attractive technology for achieving high speed low leakage addressable delivery circuits for neural interfaces.
技术界面可以模拟神经组织的化学特异性信号，对于研究和开发神经疾病的治疗方法具有吸引力。由于神经组织中的信号具有高度的时空特性，因此界面技术应该能够在毫秒范围内提供局部神经递质的释放。为了达到这种速度，神经递质必须储存在靠近释放点的地方，同时避免大量的被动泄漏。在这里，我们从理论上研究了离子双极二极管是否可以用于此目的。我们发现，如果施加足够大的反向电势，由于双极二极管内的局部电场很高，被动泄漏可以被抑制到可以忽略不计的水平。研究了各种设计参数的影响，以确定最佳设计和操作。最后，使用时变模拟评估了组件的传输速度，结果表明可以在不到 10 ms 的时间内实现生理相关浓度的神经递质释放。总的来说，结果表明，离子双极二极管构成了一种极具吸引力的技术，可以实现用于神经接口的高速低泄漏可寻址输送电路。
