Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
Adv Mater. 2018 Aug;30(32):e1801584. doi: 10.1002/adma.201801584. Epub 2018 Jun 26.
Optical technologies offer important capabilities in both biological research and clinical care. Recent interest is in implantable devices that provide intimate optical coupling to biological tissues for a finite time period and then undergo full bioresorption into benign products, thereby serving as temporary implants for diagnosis and/or therapy. The results presented here establish a silicon-based, bioresorbable photonic platform that relies on thin filaments of monocrystalline silicon encapsulated by polymers as flexible, transient optical waveguides for accurate light delivery and sensing at targeted sites in biological systems. Comprehensive studies of the mechanical and optical properties associated with bending and unfurling the waveguides from wafer-scale sources of materials establish general guidelines in fabrication and design. Monitoring biochemical species such as glucose and tracking physiological parameters such as oxygen saturation using near-infrared spectroscopic methods demonstrate modes of utility in biomedicine. These concepts provide versatile capabilities in biomedical diagnosis, therapy, deep-tissue imaging, and surgery, and suggest a broad range of opportunities for silicon photonics in bioresorbable technologies.
光学技术在生物研究和临床护理中都提供了重要的功能。最近的研究兴趣集中在可植入设备上，这些设备可以在有限的时间内与生物组织进行紧密的光学耦合，然后完全生物吸收为良性产物，从而作为诊断和/或治疗的临时植入物。这里呈现的结果建立了一个基于硅的、可生物吸收的光子平台，该平台依赖于由聚合物封装的单晶硅细丝作为灵活的、瞬态的光学波导，用于在生物系统中的目标部位进行精确的光传输和传感。对弯曲和展开波导的机械和光学性能的综合研究，从晶圆级材料源建立了制造和设计的一般准则。使用近红外光谱方法监测葡萄糖等生化物质，并跟踪氧饱和度等生理参数，展示了在生物医学中的应用模式。这些概念在生物医学诊断、治疗、深层组织成像和手术中提供了多功能的能力，并为可生物吸收技术中的硅光子学提供了广泛的机会。
