Graphene electrodes on a planar cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) long term implantable neuronal prosthetic device

• Main Authors: FREWIN CHRISTOPHER LEROY, SADDOW STEPHEN E, COLETTI CAMILLA
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 10.06.2014
• Subjects: ELECTROTHERAPY; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HYGIENE; MAGNETOTHERAPY; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; RADIATION THERAPY; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; ULTRASOUND THERAPY

Graphene, can be used to make an implantable neuronal prosthetic which can be indefinitely implanted in vivo. Graphene electrodes are placed on a 3C-SiC shank and electrical insulation is provided by conformal insulating SiC. These materials are not only chemically resilient, physically durable, and have excellent electrical properties, but have demonstrated a very high degree of biocompatibility. Graphene also has a large specific capacitance in electrolytic solutions as well as a large surface area which reduces the chances for irreversible Faradaic reactions. Graphene can easily be constructed on SiC by the evaporation of Si from the surface of that material allowing for mechanically robust epitaxial graphene layers that can be fashioned into electrodes using standard lithography and etching methods.