Neurons, once severely damaged, do not repair or regenerate themselves, leaving permanent debilitating deficits for tens of millions of people worldwide. As stem cell therapy is yet proven, implant technologies to interface intact tissues and/or replace defective functions continues to be the main solution for many neural diseases. As our society is facing more severe population aging problems, significant growth in neural implants is predicted. One should know, however, that even commercially successful implants still have a lot of room for improvement. For example, cardiovascular and cochlear implants are still bulky, mechanically rigid, power hungry, and functionally limited for delicate and small organs. For example, retinal implant, a major research forefront after pacemakers and cochlear implants, demands large number of electrodes and extremely small size beyond the current technology. This talk will then discuss our research experience on the next generation micro neural implants to cover applications for cortical, retinal, and spinal use. The focus is to apply micro/nanotechnology to develop a new generation of miniature, flexible and highly functional neural implants. Many interesting issues related to materials, technology and biology will be discussed.

Neurons, once severely damaged, do not repair or regenerate themselves, leaving permanent debilitating deficits for tens of millions of people worldwide. As stem cell therapy is yet proven, implant technologies to interface intact tissues and/or replace defective functions continues to be the main solution for many neural diseases. As our society is facing more severe population aging problems, significant growth in neural implants is predicted. One should know, however, that even commercially successful implants still have a lot of room for improvement. For example, cardiovascular and cochlear implants are still bulky, mechanically rigid, power hungry, and functionally limited for delicate and small organs. For example, retinal implant, a major research forefront after pacemakers and cochlear implants, demands large number of electrodes and extremely small size beyond the current technology. This talk will then discuss our research experience on the next generation micro neural implants to cover applications for cortical, retinal, and spinal use. The focus is to apply micro/nanotechnology to develop a new generation of miniature, flexible and highly functional neural implants. Many interesting issues related to materials, technology and biology will be discussed.