Nanotube implants could aid brain research
To probe the mysteries of the mind and restore brain function in patients suffering from trauma or disease, researchers have been developing various implants that can record and stimulate neural activity. Because these probes are typically made of silicon, however, scar tissue forms on such an implant, creating a barrier between the device and brain cells.
Implants made from electrically conducting carbon nanotubes could offer a safer and more effective alternative to silicon, according to a group of biomedical engineers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Led by Thomas Webster, the researchers fabricated a new implant material by mixing multiwalled carbon nanotubes–sheets of graphite rolled into concentric cylinders–with a polymer already used in some surgical implants.