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Design of Novel Brain-like Materials for Neural Interfacing

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Contract: W31P4Q-11-C-0134
Agency Tracking Number: 08ST1-0052
Amount: $741,545.00
Phase: Phase II
Program: STTR
Solicitation Topic Code: ST081-002
Solicitation Number: 2008.A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2008
Award Year: 2011
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2011-02-04
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
12345 W. 52nd Ave.
Wheat Ridge, CO -
United States
DUNS: 181947730
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Silvia Luebben
 Senior Chemist
 (303) 940-2317
 silvia@tda.com
Business Contact
 John Wright
Title: Vice President
Phone: (303) 940-2300
Email: jdwright@tda.com
Research Institution
 University of Pittsburgh
 Xinyan Cui
 
5063 BST3 3051 Fifth Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15260-
United States

 (412) 383-6672
 Nonprofit College or University
Abstract

In recent years there has been increased interest in the development of microelecrode arrays for implantation in the brain to stimulate paralyzed body parts, to provide blind people with artificial vision, and to allow disabled people to operate a computer-controlled prosthetic device. Current neural probes have achieved superb capability to record and transduce high quality neural signals. Unfortunately, existing electrode arrays show a 40-60% failure rate within the first year, primarily because of encapsulation by scar tissue. It would be most desirable to have electrodes that function for decades. In the Phase I project TDA Research, Inc. and the University of Pittsburgh developed new conducting and insulating materials, shaped them into primitive wires and demonstrated that these new wires caused an inflammatory response up to 91% lower than that caused by traditional wire microelectrodes (parylene C coated tungsten wires) as determined in vitro by activated microglia cell culture experiments. The objective of this Phase II project is to fabricate neural electrode prototypes with these new materials and evaluate their acute and chronic response in animal studies.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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