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NEUROFIBRES: Biofunctionalised Electroconducting Microfibres for the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury

Tipologia
Progetti europei
Programma di ricerca
H2020
Ente finanziatore
UNIONE EUROPEA
Budget
€ 80.000
Periodo
01/11/2016 - 31/10/2019
Responsabile scientifico
Federico Bosia

Partecipanti al progetto

Descrizione del progetto

Bio-electronic microsystems hold promise for repairing the damaged central nervous system (CNS). However, this potential
has not been developed because their implantation inflicts additional neural injury, and ensuing inflammation and fibrosis
compromise device functionality. In Neurofibres we want to achieve a breakthrough in "Neuroregenerative Bio-electronics",
developing dual-function devices that will serve as electroactive scaffolds for CNS regeneration and neural circuit activation.
We engineered electroconducting microfibres (MFs) that add negligible tissue insult while promoting guided cell migration
and axonal regeneration in rodents with spinal cord injury (SCI). The MFs also meet the challenge of probe miniaturisation
and biofunctionalisation for ultrasensitive recording and stimulation of neural activity. An interdisciplinary consortium
composed of neuroscientists, medical specialists, researchers in biomaterials, protein engineering, physics, and electrical
and mechanical engineering, together with a company specialised in fabrication of microcables and microconnectors, will
join efforts to design, develop, and test the MFs and complementary technology (microfibre functionalisation, assembling,
and electronic interconnection), in order to produce a biologically safe and effective bio-electronic system for the treatment of
SCI. This goal will be achieved through five specific objectives:
1) To improve the electrical conductivity, strength, and chemical stability of the microfibres.
2) To develop electro-responsive engineered affibodies for microfibre functionalisation.
3) To develop the technology for MF interconnection and assembling into implantable systems.
4) To perform comprehensive investigation of the immunological, glial, neuronal, and connective tissue responses to the
implanted MFs and applied electrostimulation in rodent and swine SCI models.
5) To investigate the motor and sensory effects of microfibre implantation and electrostimulation.

Risultati e pubblicazioni

Costagliola, Gianluca, Bosia, Federico, Pugno, Nicola M (2017)
Hierarchical Spring-Block Model for Multiscale Friction Problems.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1640927

Costagliola, Gianluca, Bosia, Federico, Pugno, Nicola M (2017)
Tuning friction with composite hierarchical surfaces.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1641054

Fraldi, M , Perrella, G , Ciervo, M , Bosia, F , Pugno, N M (2017)
A hybrid deterministic-probabilistic approach to model the mechanical response of helically arranged hierarchical strands.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1646723

Lepore, Emiliano, Bosia, Federico, Bonaccorso, Francesco, Bruna, Matteo, Taioli, Simone, Garberoglio, Giovanni, Ferrari, Andrea C, Pugno, Nicola Maria (2017)
Spider silk reinforced by graphene or carbon nanotubes.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1646722

Bosia, Federico, Lepore, Emiliano, Alvarez, Noe T , Miller, Peter, Shanov, Vesselin, Pugno, Nicola M (2016)
Knotted synthetic polymer or carbon nanotube microfibres with enhanced toughness, up to 1400 J/g.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1556926

Signetti, Stefano, Bosia, Federico, Pugno, Nicola M (2016)
Computational modeling of the mechanics of hierarchical materials.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1595143

Costagliola, Gianluca, Bosia, Federico, Pugno, Nicola M (2016)
Static and dynamic friction of hierarchical surfaces.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1621306

Ultimo aggiornamento: 19/05/2022 11:20
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