A method for large-scale implantation of 3D microdevice ensembles into brain and soft tissue

Wireless networks of implantable electronic sensors and actuators at the microscale (sub-mm) level are being explored for monitoring and modulation of physiological activity for medical diagnostics and therapeutic purposes. Beyond the requirement of integrating multiple electronic or chemical functions within small device volumes, a key challenge is the development of high-throughput methods for the implantation of large numbers of microdevices into soft tissues with minimal damage. To that end, we have developed a method for high-throughput implantation of ~100–200 µm size devices, which are here simulated by proxy microparticle ensembles. While generally applicable to subdermal tissue, our main focus and experimental testbed is the implantation of microparticles into the brain. The method deploys a scalable delivery tool composed of a 2-dimensional array of polyethylene glycol-tipped microneedles that confine the microparticle payloads. Upon dissolution of the bioresorbable polyethylene glycol, the supporting array structure is retrieved, and the microparticles remain embedded in the tissue, distributed spatially and geometrically according to the design of the microfabricated delivery tool. We first evaluated the method in an agarose testbed in terms of spatial precision and throughput for up to 1000 passive spherical and planar microparticles acting as proxy devices. We then performed the same evaluations by implanting particles into the rat cortex under acute conditions and assessed the tissue injury produced by our method of implantation under chronic conditions.