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Researchers see limitless opportunities for medicine and artificial intelligence.
An international team of scientists led by Francesca Santoro from Ullich has created an innovative biochip that effectively mimics the human retina, which expands the horizons in the field of bioelectronics.
The retina is a layer of nerve tissue at the back of the eye that plays a central role in the visual process, responsible for converting light into electrical signals for subsequent transmission to the brain. This process recreates the new biochip.
"Our organic semiconductor detects the amount of light incident on it. A similar process occurs in our eye. The intensity of light hitting each photoreceptor ultimately forms an image in the brain, " explained Santoro, a professor in the Department of Neuroelectronic Interfaces at RWTH Aachen University and a visiting researcher at the Italian Institute of Technology. The new biochip is based on light-sensitive molecules and conductive polymers that can mimic the visual circuits of the retina. In the long run, this may contribute to a closer integration of retinal implants with the human body.
Due to the flexibility, complete non-toxicity of organic materials, and ion handling, the new biochip can be implemented in biological systems much more efficiently than traditional silicon semiconductor components, which are rigid and their capabilities are limited by electronic operations.
Now Santoro and her colleagues hope that in the future, scientists will be able to actively control the communication circuits of human cells using the developed biochips. For example, the possibility of helping organs whose functioning is impaired, creating an interface between artificial limbs and joints, or eliminating errors in information processing and transmission that occur in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease is being considered.
In addition, biochips can make it possible to create computer programs that reproduce all aspects of the functioning of the human brain. The researchers plan to use the new biochips as hardware for artificial neural networks.
The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.
An international team of scientists led by Francesca Santoro from Ullich has created an innovative biochip that effectively mimics the human retina, which expands the horizons in the field of bioelectronics.
The retina is a layer of nerve tissue at the back of the eye that plays a central role in the visual process, responsible for converting light into electrical signals for subsequent transmission to the brain. This process recreates the new biochip.
"Our organic semiconductor detects the amount of light incident on it. A similar process occurs in our eye. The intensity of light hitting each photoreceptor ultimately forms an image in the brain, " explained Santoro, a professor in the Department of Neuroelectronic Interfaces at RWTH Aachen University and a visiting researcher at the Italian Institute of Technology. The new biochip is based on light-sensitive molecules and conductive polymers that can mimic the visual circuits of the retina. In the long run, this may contribute to a closer integration of retinal implants with the human body.
Due to the flexibility, complete non-toxicity of organic materials, and ion handling, the new biochip can be implemented in biological systems much more efficiently than traditional silicon semiconductor components, which are rigid and their capabilities are limited by electronic operations.
Now Santoro and her colleagues hope that in the future, scientists will be able to actively control the communication circuits of human cells using the developed biochips. For example, the possibility of helping organs whose functioning is impaired, creating an interface between artificial limbs and joints, or eliminating errors in information processing and transmission that occur in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease is being considered.
In addition, biochips can make it possible to create computer programs that reproduce all aspects of the functioning of the human brain. The researchers plan to use the new biochips as hardware for artificial neural networks.
The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.
