Biodegradable Monocrystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Microcells as Power Supplies for Transient Biomedical Implants

Luyao Lu; Zijian Yang; Kathleen Meacham; Caroline Cvetkovic; Elise A. Corbin; Abraham Vázquez-Guardado; Mantian Xue; Lan Yin; Javaneh Boroumand; Grace Pakeltis; Tian Sang; Ki Jun Yu; Debashis Chanda; Rashid Bashir; Robert W. Gereau; Xing Sheng; John A. Rogers

doi:10.1002/aenm.201703035

Biodegradable Monocrystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Microcells as Power Supplies for Transient Biomedical Implants

Luyao Lu, Zijian Yang, Kathleen Meacham, Caroline Cvetkovic, Elise A. Corbin, Abraham Vázquez-Guardado, Mantian Xue, Lan Yin, Javaneh Boroumand, Grace Pakeltis, Tian Sang, Ki Jun Yu, Debashis Chanda, Rashid Bashir, Robert W. Gereau, Xing Sheng^*, John A. Rogers

^*Corresponding author for this work

Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

105 Scopus citations

Abstract

Bioresorbable electronic materials serve as foundations for implantable devices that provide active diagnostic or therapeutic function over a timeframe matched to a biological process, and then disappear within the body to avoid secondary surgical extraction. Approaches to power supply in these physically transient systems are critically important. This paper describes a fully biodegradable, monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) platform based on microscale cells (microcells) designed to operate at wavelengths with long penetration depths in biological tissues (red and near infrared wavelengths), such that external illumination can provide realistic levels of power. Systematic characterization and theoretical simulations of operation under porcine skin and fat establish a foundational understanding of these systems and their scalability. In vivo studies of a representative platform capable of generating ≈60 µW of electrical power under 4 mm of porcine skin and fat illustrate an ability to operate blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as subdermal implants in rats for 3 d. Here, the PV system fully resorbs after 4 months. Histological analysis reveals that the degradation process introduces no inflammatory responses in the surrounding tissues. The results suggest the potential for using silicon photovoltaic microcells as bioresorbable power supplies for various transient biomedical implants.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	1703035
Journal	Advanced Energy Materials
Volume	8
Issue number	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201703035
State	Published - Jun 5 2018

Funding

L.L. and Z.Y. contributed equally to this work. The authors acknowledge support from the Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Simpson-Querrey Institute at Northwestern University. K.M. acknowledges support from the NIH T32 DK108742. A.V.-G., J.B., and D.C. acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation (Grant No. #CMMI-1450806) and Northrop Grumman Corporation (Grant No. #63018088). K.J.Y. acknowledges support from the National Research Foundation of Korea (Grant No. NRF-2017M1A2A2048904). X.S. acknowledges support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project 51602172).

Keywords

biodegradable
in vivo powering
medical implants
solar cells
transient electronics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
General Materials Science

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1002/aenm.201703035

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Lu, L., Yang, Z., Meacham, K., Cvetkovic, C., Corbin, E. A., Vázquez-Guardado, A., Xue, M., Yin, L., Boroumand, J., Pakeltis, G., Sang, T., Yu, K. J., Chanda, D., Bashir, R., Gereau, R. W., Sheng, X., & Rogers, J. A. (2018). Biodegradable Monocrystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Microcells as Power Supplies for Transient Biomedical Implants. Advanced Energy Materials, 8(16), Article 1703035. https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201703035

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title = "Biodegradable Monocrystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Microcells as Power Supplies for Transient Biomedical Implants",

abstract = "Bioresorbable electronic materials serve as foundations for implantable devices that provide active diagnostic or therapeutic function over a timeframe matched to a biological process, and then disappear within the body to avoid secondary surgical extraction. Approaches to power supply in these physically transient systems are critically important. This paper describes a fully biodegradable, monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) platform based on microscale cells (microcells) designed to operate at wavelengths with long penetration depths in biological tissues (red and near infrared wavelengths), such that external illumination can provide realistic levels of power. Systematic characterization and theoretical simulations of operation under porcine skin and fat establish a foundational understanding of these systems and their scalability. In vivo studies of a representative platform capable of generating ≈60 µW of electrical power under 4 mm of porcine skin and fat illustrate an ability to operate blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as subdermal implants in rats for 3 d. Here, the PV system fully resorbs after 4 months. Histological analysis reveals that the degradation process introduces no inflammatory responses in the surrounding tissues. The results suggest the potential for using silicon photovoltaic microcells as bioresorbable power supplies for various transient biomedical implants.",

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author = "Luyao Lu and Zijian Yang and Kathleen Meacham and Caroline Cvetkovic and Corbin, {Elise A.} and Abraham V{\'a}zquez-Guardado and Mantian Xue and Lan Yin and Javaneh Boroumand and Grace Pakeltis and Tian Sang and Yu, {Ki Jun} and Debashis Chanda and Rashid Bashir and Gereau, {Robert W.} and Xing Sheng and Rogers, {John A.}",

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Lu, L, Yang, Z, Meacham, K, Cvetkovic, C, Corbin, EA, Vázquez-Guardado, A, Xue, M, Yin, L, Boroumand, J, Pakeltis, G, Sang, T, Yu, KJ, Chanda, D, Bashir, R, Gereau, RW, Sheng, X & Rogers, JA 2018, 'Biodegradable Monocrystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Microcells as Power Supplies for Transient Biomedical Implants', Advanced Energy Materials, vol. 8, no. 16, 1703035. https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201703035

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T1 - Biodegradable Monocrystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Microcells as Power Supplies for Transient Biomedical Implants

AU - Lu, Luyao

AU - Yang, Zijian

AU - Meacham, Kathleen

AU - Cvetkovic, Caroline

AU - Corbin, Elise A.

AU - Vázquez-Guardado, Abraham

AU - Xue, Mantian

AU - Yin, Lan

AU - Boroumand, Javaneh

AU - Pakeltis, Grace

AU - Sang, Tian

AU - Yu, Ki Jun

AU - Chanda, Debashis

AU - Bashir, Rashid

AU - Gereau, Robert W.

AU - Sheng, Xing

AU - Rogers, John A.

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N2 - Bioresorbable electronic materials serve as foundations for implantable devices that provide active diagnostic or therapeutic function over a timeframe matched to a biological process, and then disappear within the body to avoid secondary surgical extraction. Approaches to power supply in these physically transient systems are critically important. This paper describes a fully biodegradable, monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) platform based on microscale cells (microcells) designed to operate at wavelengths with long penetration depths in biological tissues (red and near infrared wavelengths), such that external illumination can provide realistic levels of power. Systematic characterization and theoretical simulations of operation under porcine skin and fat establish a foundational understanding of these systems and their scalability. In vivo studies of a representative platform capable of generating ≈60 µW of electrical power under 4 mm of porcine skin and fat illustrate an ability to operate blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as subdermal implants in rats for 3 d. Here, the PV system fully resorbs after 4 months. Histological analysis reveals that the degradation process introduces no inflammatory responses in the surrounding tissues. The results suggest the potential for using silicon photovoltaic microcells as bioresorbable power supplies for various transient biomedical implants.

AB - Bioresorbable electronic materials serve as foundations for implantable devices that provide active diagnostic or therapeutic function over a timeframe matched to a biological process, and then disappear within the body to avoid secondary surgical extraction. Approaches to power supply in these physically transient systems are critically important. This paper describes a fully biodegradable, monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) platform based on microscale cells (microcells) designed to operate at wavelengths with long penetration depths in biological tissues (red and near infrared wavelengths), such that external illumination can provide realistic levels of power. Systematic characterization and theoretical simulations of operation under porcine skin and fat establish a foundational understanding of these systems and their scalability. In vivo studies of a representative platform capable of generating ≈60 µW of electrical power under 4 mm of porcine skin and fat illustrate an ability to operate blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as subdermal implants in rats for 3 d. Here, the PV system fully resorbs after 4 months. Histological analysis reveals that the degradation process introduces no inflammatory responses in the surrounding tissues. The results suggest the potential for using silicon photovoltaic microcells as bioresorbable power supplies for various transient biomedical implants.

KW - biodegradable

KW - in vivo powering

KW - medical implants

KW - solar cells

KW - transient electronics

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Biodegradable Monocrystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Microcells as Power Supplies for Transient Biomedical Implants

Abstract

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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