Invited talk by Anoop Patil

Abstract:

Silk fibroin, a protein obtained from the Bombyx mori cocoons, holds promise for a new generation of soft implantable bioelectronics. This is mainly due to a unique set of silk material properties such as excellent biocompatibility, tailorable biodegradability, optical transparency, and soft mechanical properties. The initial developments regarding the use of silk in bioelectronics mainly revolved around transient or resorbable interfaces. However, the pursuit of water-stable or nontransient silk bioelectronics is challenging, requiring unconventional techniques for integrating silk with thin brittle sensing materials in a non-resorbable package for bionic links. This talk will first focus on a brief review of the evolution of the trends in the use of silk for bionic link design (inclusive of bare resorbable films and transient sensors). The ideation towards the first-of-its-kind nontransient implantable silk bionic interfaces will then follow. Key results regarding the direct electrical recording of biopotentials (such as neural activity from the peripheral nerves and the cortex) using silk bionic links will be presented. The fabrication strategies employed in this work along with the material aspects of silk fibroin driving the nontransient silk technology for neural interfacing will be discussed. Snapshots of other academic research work such as the application of materials such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for neural interfacing and the recent-most corporate research on the application of thin-film electrodes for characterizing dielectric edible media in the food science and technology domain, will later follow.

Speaker's Note:

This talk would serve as a summary of my research experiences so far, focusing on how a novel idea - The Silk Road towards Neurotechnology - opened up exciting research opportunities along the way! 

Bio:

A technologist by training and a scientist by profession, Dr. Anoop Patil is leading the research on the application of thin-film electrochemical interfaces at the Wilmar International HQ, Singapore. In an honorary scientific consultant and academic mentorship role, he's also serving as a Wilmar Ph.D. Co-advisor, supervising an Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB-SG)-sponsored Ph.D. project (on the detection of volatile organic compounds using thin-film functionalized interfaces) in collaboration with the Dept. of ECE, National University of Singapore. Previously, he developed the Nontransient Silk Flex Technology as a part of implantable bioelectronic interfacing at the National University of Singapore. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the National University of Singapore in 2018. He has published peer-reviewed papers (6 first-author and 2 co-author works) in high-impact factor journals such as Materials Today, Small Methods, ACS Nano, and Nano Today. He has also authored an expert-opinion book chapter titled NeuroFlex in the Handbook of Neuroengineering with Springer Nature, a comprehensive review of the rapidly expanding field of Neuroengineering and Neurotechnology with contributions from leading researchers across the world. His research on silk-based neurotechnology was presented at the Materials Research Society meetings in Boston, USA, and was selected for a research showcase at the prestigious Gordon Research Conference (Neuroelectronic Interfaces Track) in Ventura, USA. He has been a peer reviewer for high-impact journals such as Advanced Materials and Advanced Materials Technologies. He has 8+ years of cumulative experience in Flexible Bioelectronics (inclusive of flexible implantable electrode technologies) and Materials R&D. His current research interests include the development of soft, flexible sensor, and circuit implants for bioelectronic applications.