A silicon diode-based optoelectronic interface for bidirectional neural modulation.

The development of advanced neural modulation techniques is crucial to neuroscience research and neuroengineering applications. Recently, optical-based, nongenetic modulation approaches have been actively investigated to remotely interrogate the nervous system with high precision. Here, we show that a thin-film, silicon (Si)-based diode device is capable to bidirectionally regulate in vitro and in vivo neural activities upon adjusted illumination. When exposed to high-power and short-pulsed light, the Si diode generates photothermal effects, evoking neuron depolarization and enhancing intracellular calcium dynamics. Conversely, low-power and long-pulsed light on the Si diode hyperpolarizes neurons and reduces calcium activities. Furthermore, the Si diode film mounted on the brain of living mice can activate or suppress cortical activities under varied irradiation conditions. The presented material and device strategies reveal an innovated optoelectronic interface for precise neural modulations.

Real-time dense-view imaging for three-dimensional light-field display based on image color calibration and self-supervised view synthesis.

Three-Dimensional (3D) light-field display has achieved promising improvement in recent years. However, since the dense-view images cannot be collected fast in real-world 3D scenes, the real-time 3D light-field display is still challenging to achieve in real scenes, especially at the high-resolution 3D display. Here, a real-time 3D light-field display method with dense-view is proposed based on image color correction and self-supervised optical flow estimation, and a high-quality and high frame rate of 3D light-field display can be realized simultaneously. A sparse camera array is firstly used to capture sparse-view images in the proposed method. To eliminate the color deviation of the sparse views, the imaging process of the camera is analyzed, and a practical multi-layer perception (MLP) network is proposed to perform color calibration. Given sparse views with consistent color, the optical flow can be estimated by a lightweight convolutional neural network (CNN) at high speed, which uses the input image pairs to learn the optical flow in a self-supervised manner. With inverse warp operation, dense-view images can be synthesized in the end. Quantitative and qualitative experiments are performed to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed method. Experimental results show that over 60 dense-view images at a resolution of 1024 × 512 can be generated with 11 input views at a frame rate over 20 fps, which is 4× faster than previous optical flow estimation methods PWC-Net and LiteFlowNet3. Finally, large viewing angles and high-quality 3D light-field display at 3840 × 2160 resolution can be achieved in real-time.

Self-supervised stereo depth estimation based on bi-directional pixel-movement learning.

Stereo depth estimation is an efficient method to perceive three-dimensional structures in real scenes. In this paper, we propose a novel self-supervised method, to the best of our knowledge, to extract depth information by learning bi-directional pixel movement with convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Given left and right views, we use CNNs to learn the task of middle-view synthesis for perceiving bi-directional pixel movement from left-right views to the middle view. The information of pixel movement will be stored in the features after CNNs are trained. Then we use several convolutional layers to extract the information of pixel movement for estimating a depth map of the given scene. Experiments show that our proposed method can significantly provide a high-quality depth map using only a color image as a supervisory signal.

Degradation Study of Thin-Film Silicon Structures in a Cell Culture Medium.

Thin-film silicon (Si)-based transient electronics represents an emerging technology that enables spontaneous dissolution, absorption and, finally, physical disappearance in a controlled manner under physiological conditions, and has attracted increasing attention in pertinent clinical applications such as biomedical implants for on-body sensing, disease diagnostics, and therapeutics. The degradation behavior of thin-film Si materials and devices is critically dependent on the device structure as well as the environment. In this work, we experimentally investigated the dissolution of planar Si thin films and micropatterned Si pillar arrays in a cell culture medium, and systematically analyzed the evolution of their topographical, physical, and chemical properties during the hydrolysis. We discovered that the cell culture medium significantly accelerates the degradation process, and Si pillar arrays present more prominent degradation effects by creating rougher surfaces, complicating surface states, and decreasing the electrochemical impedance. Additionally, the dissolution process leads to greatly reduced mechanical strength. Finally, in vitro cell culture studies demonstrate desirable biocompatibility of corroded Si pillars. The results provide a guideline for the use of thin-film Si materials and devices as transient implants in biomedicine.

Virtual view synthesis for 3D light-field display based on scene tower blending.

Three-dimensional (3D) light-field display has achieved a great improvement. However, the collection of dense viewpoints in the real 3D scene is still a bottleneck. Virtual views can be generated by unsupervised networks, but the quality of different views is inconsistent because networks are separately trained on each posed view. Here, a virtual view synthesis method for the 3D light-field display based on scene tower blending is presented, which can synthesize high quality virtual views with correct occlusions by blending all tower results, and dense viewpoints on 3D light-field display can be provided with smooth motion parallax. Posed views are combinatorially input into diverse unsupervised CNNs to predict respective input-view towers, and towers of the same viewpoint are fused together. All posed-view towers are blended as a scene color tower and a scene selection tower, so that 3D scene distributions at different depth planes can be accurately estimated. Blended scene towers are soft-projected to synthesize virtual views with correct occlusions. A denoising network is used to improve the image quality of final synthetic views. Experimental results demonstrate the validity of the proposed method, which shows outstanding performances under various disparities. PSNR of the virtual views are about 30 dB and SSIM is above 0.91. We believe that our view synthesis method will be helpful for future applications of the 3D light-field display.

Real-time optical reconstruction for a three-dimensional light-field display based on path-tracing and CNN super-resolution.

Three-Dimensional (3D) light-field display plays a vital role in realizing 3D display. However, the real-time high quality 3D light-field display is difficult, because super high-resolution 3D light field images are hard to be achieved in real-time. Although extensive research has been carried out on fast 3D light-field image generation, no single study exists to satisfy real-time 3D image generation and display with super high-resolution such as 7680×4320. To fulfill real-time 3D light-field display with super high-resolution, a two-stage 3D image generation method based on path tracing and image super-resolution (SR) is proposed, which takes less time to render 3D images than previous methods. In the first stage, path tracing is used to generate low-resolution 3D images with sparse views based on Monte-Carlo integration. In the second stage, a lite SR algorithm based on a generative adversarial network (GAN) is presented to up-sample the low-resolution 3D images to high-resolution 3D images of dense views with photo-realistic image quality. To implement the second stage efficiently and effectively, the elemental images (EIs) are super-resolved individually for better image quality and geometry accuracy, and a foreground selection scheme based on ray casting is developed to improve the rendering performance. Finally, the output EIs from CNN are used to recompose the high-resolution 3D images. Experimental results demonstrate that real-time 3D light-field display over 30fps at 8K resolution can be realized, while the structural similarity (SSIM) can be over 0.90. It is hoped that the proposed method will contribute to the field of real-time 3D light-field display.

Materials Strategies and Device Architectures of Emerging Power Supply Devices for Implantable Bioelectronics.

Implantable bioelectronics represent an emerging technology that can be integrated into the human body for diagnostic and therapeutic functions. Power supply devices are an essential component of bioelectronics to ensure their robust performance. However, conventional power sources are usually bulky, rigid, and potentially contain hazardous constituent materials. The fact that biological organisms are soft, curvilinear, and have limited accommodation space poses new challenges for power supply systems to minimize the interface mismatch and still offer sufficient power to meet clinical-grade applications. Here, recent advances in state-of-the-art nonconventional power options for implantable electronics, specifically, miniaturized, flexible, or biodegradable power systems are reviewed. Material strategies and architectural design of a broad array of power devices are discussed, including energy storage systems (batteries and supercapacitors), power devices which harvest sources from the human body (biofuel cells, devices utilizing biopotentials, piezoelectric harvesters, triboelectric devices, and thermoelectric devices), and energy transfer devices which utilize sources in the surrounding environment (ultrasonic energy harvesters, inductive coupling/radiofrequency energy harvesters, and photovoltaic devices). Finally, future challenges and perspectives are given.

Dense-view synthesis for three-dimensional light-field display based on unsupervised learning.

Three-dimensional (3D) light field display, as a potential future display method, has attracted considerable attention. However, there still exist certain issues to be addressed, especially the capture of dense views in real 3D scenes. Using sparse cameras associated with view synthesis algorithm has become a practical method. Supervised convolutional neural network (CNN) is used to synthesize virtual views. However, such a large amount of training target views is sometimes difficult to be obtained and the training position is relatively fixed. Novel views can also be synthesized by unsupervised network MPVN, but the method has strict requirements on capturing multiple uniform horizontal viewpoints, which is not suitable in practice. Here, a method of dense-view synthesis based on unsupervised learning is presented, which can synthesize arbitrary virtual views with multiple free-posed views captured in the real 3D scene based on unsupervised learning. Multiple posed views are reprojected to the target position and input into the neural network. The network outputs a color tower and a selection tower indicating the scene distribution along the depth direction. A single image is yielded by the weighted summation of two towers. The proposed network is end-to-end trained based on unsupervised learning by minimizing errors during reconstructions of posed views. A virtual view can be predicted in a high quality by reprojecting posed views to the desired position. Additionally, a sequence of dense virtual views can be generated for 3D light-field display by repeated predictions. Experimental results demonstrate the validity of our proposed network. PSNR of synthesized views are around 30dB and SSIM are over 0.90. Since multiple cameras are supported to be placed in free-posed positions, there are not strict physical requirements and the proposed method can be flexibly used for the real scene capture. We believe this approach will contribute to the wide applications of 3D light-field display in the future.

Electrochemically triggered degradation of silicon membranes for smart on-demand transient electronic devices.

Transient electronics is an emerging technology that enables unique functional transformation or the physical disappearance of electronic devices, and is attracting increasing attention for potential applications in data secured hardware as an ultimate solution against data breaches. Developing smart triggered degradation modalities of silicon (Si) remain the key challenge to achieve advanced non-recoverable on-demand transient electronics. Here, we present a novel electrochemically triggered transience mechanism of Si by lithiation, allowing complete and controllable destruction of Si devices. The depth and microstructure of the lithiation-affected zone over time is investigated in detail and the results suggest a few hours of lithiation is sufficient to create microcracks and significantly promote lithium penetration. Finite element models are proposed to confirm the mechanism. Electrochemically triggered degradation of thin film Si ribbons and Si integrated circuit chips with metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors from a commercial 0.35 micrometer complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology node is performed to demonstrate the potential applications for commercial electronics. This work opens new opportunities for versatile triggered transience of Si-based devices for critical secured information systems and green consumer electronics.

Maternal control of embryogenesis by MPK6 and its upstream MKK4/MKK5 in Arabidopsis.

In flowering plants, developing embryos reside in maternal sporophytes. It is known that maternal generation influences the development of next-generation embryos; however, little is known about the signaling components in the process. Previously, we demonstrated that Arabidopsis mitogen-activated protein kinase 6 (MPK6) and MPK3 play critical roles in plant reproduction. In addition, we noticed that a large fraction of seeds from mpk6 single-mutant plants showed a wrinkled seed coat or a burst-out embryo phenotype. Here, we report that these seed phenotypes can be traced back to defective embryogenesis. The defective embryos have shorter suspensors and reduced growth along the longitudinal axis. Furthermore, the cotyledons fail to bend over to progress to the bent-cotyledon stage. As a result of the uneven circumference along the axis, the seed coat wrinkles to develop raisin-like morphology after dehydration. In more severe cases, the embryo can be pushed out from the micropylar end, resulting in the burst-out embryo seed phenotype. Genetic analyses demonstrated that the defective embryogenesis of the mpk6 mutant is a maternal effect. Heterozygous or homozygous mpk6 embryos have defects only in mpk6 homozygous maternal plants, but not in wild-type or heterozygous maternal plants. The loss of function of MKK4/MKK5 also results in the same phenotypes, suggesting that MKK4/MKK5 might act upstream of MPK6 in this pathway. The maternal-mediated embryo defects are associated with changes in auxin activity maxima and PIN localization. In summary, this research demonstrates that the Arabidopsis MKK4/MKK5-MPK6 cascade is an important player in the maternal control of embryogenesis.

Synergistic Effects of Selenophene and Extended Ladder-Type Donor Units for Efficient Polymer Solar Cells.

Two pairs of polymer donor materials based on indacenodithiophene (IDT) and indacenodithieno[3,2-b]thiophene (IDTT) as the donor units are synthesized. Thiophene or selenophene is introduced as the π-bridge units and electron-deficient fluorine-substituted quinoxaline is used as acceptor unit. Selenophene-containing polymers PIDT-DFQ-Se and PIDTT-DFQ-Se show redshifted absorption and narrower bandgaps. Combined with IDTT donor unit, PIDTT-DFQ-Se shows the highest absorption coefficient. Both the IDTT unit and selenophene unit have positive effects on the hole mobilities, making PIDTT-DFQ-Se the highest one. The best power conversion efficiency of 7.4% is obtained from devices based on PIDTT-DFQ-Se:[6,6]-phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC71 BM) with a Jsc of 12.6 mA cm-2 , a Voc of 0.89 V, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.66.

Interaction of aberrations, diffraction, and quantal fluctuations determine the impact of pupil size on visual quality.

Our purpose is to develop a computational approach that jointly assesses the impact of stimulus luminance and pupil size on visual quality. We compared traditional optical measures of image quality and those that incorporate the impact of retinal illuminance dependent neural contrast sensitivity. Visually weighted image quality was calculated for a presbyopic model eye with representative levels of chromatic and monochromatic aberrations as pupil diameter was varied from 7 to 1 mm, stimulus luminance varied from 2000 to 0.1 cd/m2, and defocus varied from 0 to -2 diopters. The model included the effects of quantal fluctuations on neural contrast sensitivity. We tested the model's predictions for five cycles per degree gratings by measuring contrast sensitivity at 5 cyc/deg. Unlike the traditional Strehl ratio and the visually weighted area under the modulation transfer function, the visual Strehl ratio derived from the optical transfer function was able to capture the combined impact of optics and quantal noise on visual quality. In a well-focused eye, provided retinal illuminance is held constant as pupil size varies, visual image quality scales approximately as the square root of illuminance because of quantum fluctuations, but optimum pupil size is essentially independent of retinal illuminance and quantum fluctuations. Conversely, when stimulus luminance is held constant (and therefore illuminance varies with pupil size), optimum pupil size increases as luminance decreases, thereby compensating partially for increased quantum fluctuations. However, in the presence of -1 and -2 diopters of defocus and at high photopic levels where Weber's law operates, optical aberrations and diffraction dominate image quality and pupil optimization. Similar behavior was observed in human observers viewing sinusoidal gratings. Optimum pupil size increases as stimulus luminance drops for the well-focused eye, and the benefits of small pupils for improving defocused image quality remain throughout the photopic and mesopic ranges. However, restricting pupils to <2 mm will cause significant reductions in the best focus vision at low photopic and mesopic luminances.

Can Down-gaze During Near Work Cause Peripheral Deprivation in Asian Eyes?

PURPOSE: We hypothesize that the typically narrower palpebral apertures of East Asian eyes in combination with the narrowing of this aperture during down-gaze combine to reduce light levels and image contrast in the inferior retina during near work, thus creating peripheral deprivation in these eyes that could generate deprivation myopia in children culturally encouraged to perform near work. METHODS: We photographed the right eyes of 53 Chinese children during down-gaze (from 10 to 40 degrees) from the fixation point and the primary gaze position. From these images, we determined the size and shape of the effective foveal and superior field entrance pupil at different down-gaze angles. By using an eye model with typical levels of off-axis higher-order aberrations, we quantified the impact of eyelid and eyelash vignetting of the pupil on both retinal illuminance and image quality using Visual Strehl Ratio (VSOTF), and the non-visually weighted Strehl Ratio (SROTF). RESULTS: The effective aperture for the superior visual field is vignetted during down-gaze by lids and lashes, producing reductions in retinal illuminance of 30% and >60% at 20 and 40 degrees, respectively. However, the aperture vignetting effect on peripheral image modulation is small, with neural and aberration changes dominating image quality in the superior field during down-gaze. CONCLUSIONS: Occlusion of the pupil by eyelid and eyelashes during down-gaze is unlikely to produce significant superior field deprivation in East Asian eyes.

A MAPK cascade downstream of ERECTA receptor-like protein kinase regulates Arabidopsis inflorescence architecture by promoting localized cell proliferation.

Spatiotemporal-specific cell proliferation and cell differentiation are critical to the formation of normal tissues, organs, and organisms. The highly coordinated cell differentiation and proliferation events illustrate the importance of cell-cell communication during growth and development. In Arabidopsis thaliana, ERECTA (ER), a receptor-like protein kinase, plays important roles in promoting localized cell proliferation, which determines inflorescence architecture, organ shape, and size. However, the downstream signaling components remain unidentified. Here, we report a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK; or MPK) cascade that functions downstream of ER in regulating localized cell proliferation. Similar to an er mutant, loss of function of MPK3/MPK6 or their upstream MAPK kinases (MAPKKs; or MKKs), MKK4/MKK5, resulted in shortened pedicels and clustered inflorescences. Epistasis analysis demonstrated that the gain of function of MKK4 and MKK5 transgenes could rescue the loss-of-function er mutant phenotype at both morphological and cellular levels, suggesting that the MPK3/MPK6 cascade functions downstream of the ER receptor. Furthermore, YODA (YDA), a MAPKK kinase, was shown to be upstream of MKK4/MKK5 and downstream of ER in regulating inflorescence architecture based on both gain- and loss-of-function data. Taken together, these results suggest that the YDA-MKK4/MKK5-MPK3/MPK6 cascade functions downstream of the ER receptor in regulating localized cell proliferation, which further shapes the morphology of plant organs.

Clinical application of the dissection of the preperitoneal space without electrocoagulation in laparoscopic transperitoneal inguinal hernia repair throughout of the whole process.

Introduction: The dissection of the preperitoneal space is performed using a monopolar instrument to prevent bleeding in laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal hernia repair (TAPP). It may also cause energy injuries and nerve damage. Aim: To assess the effectiveness and safety of dissection of the preperitoneal space without electrocoagulation (DPSWE) in TAPP throughout the process. Material and methods: A retrospective analysis of data of 134 patients was made. The electrocoagulation group (EG) relied on monopolar instruments. In the non-electrocoagulation group (NEG) mainly scissors were used without electrocoagulation. The patients were followed for up for 3 months. Intraoperative and postoperative conditions and other complications were observed. Results: The VAS scores in the NEG were lower than those in the EG (p < 0.05). The operation time in the NEG was shorter than that in the EG (p < 0.05). Hospitalization expenses, scrotal seroma formation, and rupture of hernia sac in the NEG were lower than those in the EG (p < 0.05). The intraoperative bleeding volume above 20 ml in the NEG was higher than that in the EG. There was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative bleeding, vas deferens injury, intestinal injury, surgical site infection, length of hospital stay, urinary retention and hernia recurrence in the NEG and the EG (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of surgical site infections (SSIs) in the NEG and the EG. Conclusions: DPSWE is effective and safe. DPSWE may reduce postoperative pain and have no significant increase in postoperative bleeding.

Fabrication and properties of hydroxyapatite/chitosan composite scaffolds loaded with periostin for bone regeneration.

This paper reports a facile fabrication method of hydroxyapatite/chitosan (HAp/CS) composite scaffold with 3D porous structure without using any chemical cross-linkers. The HAp particles had an urchin-like hollow microstructure and high surface area, which was uniformly dispersed into the pore walls of the HAp/CS scaffold. The addition of HAp can efficiently enhance the mechanical properties and bioactivity of the HAp/CS scaffold. Moreover, periostin was successfully loaded onto the HAp/CS scaffold. When applied to the repair of bone defect in a rat mandibular model, the HAp/CS scaffold loaded with periostin can enhance osteointegration and accelerate bone regeneration. Our research combines periostin with the HAp/CS composite material, which provides a novel strategy to improve bone regeneration and has great application prospect in bone repair fields.

Crisaborole combined with vitamin D demonstrates superior therapeutic efficacy over either monotherapy in mice with allergic contact dermatitis.

This study evaluated the therapeutic efficacy and underlying mechanisms of crisaborole combined with vitamin D in the treatment of allergic contact dermatitis. While crisaborole, a phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor, and vitamin D analogs are commonly used in the treatment of atopic dermatitis, their combined therapeutic potential in allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) remains unexplored. Given their anti-inflammatory properties, we hypothesized that the combination of crisaborole and vitamin D could offer superior efficacy in mitigating the symptoms and underlying mechanisms of allergic contact dermatitis. In vitro, HaCaT cells stimulated with tumor necrosis factor-α and interferon-γ were treated with a combination of crisaborole and vitamin D, followed by cytokine expression analysis. In vivo, male C57BL/6 mice were divided into five groups and treated accordingly: blank control, dinitrochlorobenzene-induced model, crisaborole alone, vitamin D alone, and a combination of crisaborole and vitamin D. On day 14, dorsal skin and ear thickness were measured, followed by comprehensive pathological evaluations. In vivo and in vitro experiments showed that the expression levels of inflammatory factors were significantly lower in the DNCB + VD + Cri group than in the DNCB group. Histological analyses revealed that, compared with the DNCB group, the combined treatment group significantly reduced epidermal hyperkeratosis, improved epidermal transdermal water loss, decreased dermatitis scores, and diminished mast cell infiltration. Moreover, it lowered the expression levels of IL-6, IL-4, TNF-α, iNOS, IL-17, CC chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), and CC chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2). CCL2 recognizes CCR2 and stimulates inflammatory cells, enhancing the inflammatory response. Increased CCL2 expression correlates with heightened inflammation and dendritic cell infiltration in ACD, while downregulation of CCL2 attenuates inflammation. Thus, the combined use of crisaborole and vitamin D demonstrates superior therapeutic efficacy over monotherapy in a mouse model of ACD. The combination of vitamin D and crisaborole significantly reduces inflammation and epidermal hyperkeratosis in a mouse model of allergic contact dermatitis, demonstrating superior therapeutic efficacy compared to either treatment alone. This suggests that the combined therapy could be a promising approach for the prevention and treatment of allergic contact dermatitis.

Clinical characteristics and aetiology of uveitis in a viral haemorrhagic fever zone.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Studies on uveitis in Sierra Leone were conducted prior to the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic of 2013-16, which was associated with uveitis in 20% of survivors. They did not include imaging or investigation of tuberculosis and used laboratory services outside the country. We performed a cross-sectional study on patients presenting with uveitis to establish their clinical characteristics and identify the impact of in-country laboratory diagnoses. METHODS: We invited uveitis cases presenting to Eye Clinics in Sierra Leone from March to September 2022 to participate in the study. They underwent a diagnostic work-up, including fundus and ocular coherence tomography imaging. Active uveitis cases underwent further investigations including serology and immunological tests for syphilis, tuberculosis, herpetic viruses and HIV and chest radiographs. RESULTS: We recruited 128 patients. The median age was 34 (IQR 19) years and there was an equal gender split. Panuveitis was the predominant anatomical uveitis type (n = 51, 40%), followed by posterior uveitis (n = 36, 28%). Bilateral disease affected 40 patients (31%). Active uveitis was identified in 75 (59%) cases. ICD 11 definition of blindness with VA < 3/60 occurred in 55 (33%) uveitis eyes. Aetiology of uveitis from clinical and laboratory assessment demonstrated that most cases were of undifferentiated aetiology (n = 66, 52%), followed by toxoplasmosis (n = 46, 36%). Trauma contributed to eight (6%) cases, syphilis to 5 (4%) cases and Ebola to 2 (2%). CONCLUSIONS: Uveitis was associated with high levels of visual impairment. Posterior and panuveitis contributed to the highest proportion of uveitis cases. Laboratory studies helped differentiate syphilis as a significant aetiology of uveitis.

A biodegradable and flexible neural interface for transdermal optoelectronic modulation and regeneration of peripheral nerves.

Optoelectronic neural interfaces can leverage the photovoltaic effect to convert light into electrical current, inducing charge redistribution and enabling nerve stimulation. This method offers a non-genetic and remote approach for neuromodulation. Developing biodegradable and efficient optoelectronic neural interfaces is important for achieving transdermal stimulation while minimizing infection risks associated with device retrieval, thereby maximizing therapeutic outcomes. We propose a biodegradable, flexible, and miniaturized silicon-based neural interface capable of transdermal optoelectronic stimulation for neural modulation and nerve regeneration. Enhancing the device interface with thin-film molybdenum significantly improves the efficacy of neural stimulation. Our study demonstrates successful activation of the sciatic nerve in rodents and the facial nerve in rabbits. Moreover, transdermal optoelectronic stimulation accelerates the functional recovery of injured facial nerves.

A Bioresorbable and Conductive Scaffold Integrating Silicon Membranes for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration.

Peripheral nerve injury represents one of the most common types of traumatic damage, severely impairing motor and sensory functions, and posttraumatic nerve regeneration remains a major challenge. Electrical cues are critical bioactive factors that promote nerve regrowth, and bioartificial scaffolds incorporating conductive materials to enhance the endogenous electrical field have been demonstrated to be effective. The utilization of fully biodegradable scaffolds can eliminate material residues, and circumvent the need for secondary retrieval procedures. Here, a fully bioresorbable and conductive nerve scaffold integrating N-type silicon (Si) membranes is proposed, which can deliver both structural guidance and electrical cues for the repair of nerve defects. The entire scaffold is fully biodegradable, and the introduction of N-type Si can significantly promote the proliferation and production of neurotrophic factors of Schwann cells and enhance the calcium activity of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. The conductive scaffolds enable accelerated nerve regeneration and motor functional recovery in rodents with sciatic nerve transection injuries. This work sheds light on the advancement of bioresorbable and electrically active materials to achieve desirable neural interfaces and improved therapeutic outcomes, offering essential strategies for regenerative medicine.