Flexible and Transparent Multielectrode Arrays to Study Alzheimer's Pathology in Advanced In-Vitro Disease Models

Our lack of insights into neurodegenerative disorders, coupled with a projected increase in these disorders potentially increasing the load on the healthcare system (over 150 million people worldwide with dementia by 2050) has resulted in a rising sense of urgency towards conducting efforts to understand them. The differences between animal and human
physiology have shifted the research efforts towards novel disease models, such as brain organoids based on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). Due to their reduced dimensions, multielectrode arrays (MEA) are designed to enable detailed characterizations with a good spatial and temporal resolution. PEDOT: PSS MEAs show promising results due
to their biocompatibility, high conductivity and easy to design nature. This project aims at imparting characteristics like flexibility and transparency to traditional MEAs to permit their combination with high-resolution microscopy and enable the study of brain organoids using accurate electrophysiological as well as optical measurements. To minimise potential
negative effects onto the growing organoid induced by its complex interaction with the polymer-based MEA, the proposed arrays will provide high porosity which ensures that the organoids achieve the necessary nutrition exchange through air-liquid interfaces helping them grow without any issues. Further measurements can then be carried out to
measure the cellular interactions taking place during neurodegenerative pathology.