Injectable Brain Implants: The Next Frontier in Neuroscience

Scientists have developed a gel that, when injected into bodily tissue, solidifies into an electrically conductive polymer, which could be used to create soft, flexible electrodes that can be implanted into the brain. The electrodes formed by the gel are just as soft and movable as the brain tissue around it, and the gel is apparently harmless. The team has tested the material in living zebra fish and dead leeches, and the electrodes seem safe. However, the electrodes might be able to successfully conduct electrical signals, but the team doesn’t have a solution for getting those signals out of the brain so that scientists can actually see them, or for sending in current so the electrodes can be used for brain stimulation.