Solid-State Nanopores for Spatially Resolved Chemical Neuromodulation

F. Vacca, F. Galluzzi, M. Blanco-Formoso, T. Gianiorio, A.F. De Fazio, F. Tantussi, S. Stürmer, W. Haq, E. Zrenner, A. Chaffiol, C. Joffrois, S. Picaud, F. Benfenati, F. De Angelis, and E. Colombo. Nano Letters 2024 Nov 19. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c02604

The Hybrid Synapse for Vision (HyVIS) project, supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 FET-OPEN program, continues to achieve transformative advancements in the field of vision restoration.

A recent study from the project, published in Nano Letters, describes a planar neural interface that utilizes diffusion-driven neurotransmitter release through a solid-state nanopore array. To test its potential as a spatially resolved neural interface for stimulating neurons with glutamate, the scientists recorded rat retinal tissue on the MaxOne Single-Well HD-MEA. The results showed an increase in glutamate-evoked activity over time, with a clear-cut difference between cellslocated near the nanopores and those in the peripheral area of the tissue. Overall, the study demonstrated that this innovative technology paves the way for the use of biomimetic chemical stimulation in neural prosthetics and brain-machine interfaces.

MaxWell Biosystems is a proud partner in the HyVIS project. Dr Praveena Manogaran, Scientific Team Lead at MaxWell Biosystems, shared: “Over the past years, working with Prof. Dr. Fabio Benfenati, Dr. Elisabetta Colombo, and Filippo Galluzzi has been a rewarding experience. On behalf of MaxWell Biosystems, I want to personally thank you for this valuable collaboration”.

Through the unprecedented work of our esteemed partners, we reaffirm our commitment to advancing scientific discovery and developing transformative treatments for patients with retinal diseases.

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