Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Brain Matter Mesh
30 June 2015

Brain Matter Mesh

The development of flexible electronics means that it’s now possible to combine them with natural biological materials for studies in living animals (in vivo). However difficulties remain with delivering these electronics to internal sites of interest, such as the brain. Researchers have now come up with a simple technique where an electronic mesh is injected into biological materials. A flexible mesh is held within a small needle – less than one tenth of a millimetre in diameter – and when ejected by a syringe, the mesh is able to unfold (pictured) and mould itself to a surface. This procedure has been recently demonstrated in the brain of a living mouse – the mesh was injected with controlled delivery, integrating itself with brain matter and coming into contact with neurons, thus forming a neuron-nanoelectronic interface for the in vivo monitoring of brain activity. Future engineering and biomedical research will benefit from this pioneering method.

Written by Helen Thomas

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.