Millimetre-scale bioresorbable optoelectronic systems for electrotherapy

Yamin Zhang^#^{1

2

3}, Eric Rytkin^#⁴, Liangsong Zeng^#^{5

6}, Jong Uk Kim^#^{7

5}, Lichao Tang^#⁸, Haohui Zhang^#⁹, Aleksei Mikhailov¹⁰, Kaiyu Zhao^{5

11}, Yue Wang^{5

4}, Li Ding^{5

12}, Xinyue Lu⁵, Anastasia Lantsova⁴, Elena Aprea^{5

13}, Gengming Jiang⁵, Shupeng Li⁶, Seung Gi Seo^{7

5}, Tong Wang¹⁴, Jin Wang⁵, Jiayang Liu¹¹, Jianyu Gu^{7

5}, Fei Liu^{5

11}, Keith Bailey¹⁵, Yat Fung Larry Li¹¹, Amy Burrell¹⁶, Anna Pfenniger¹⁰, Andrey Ardashev¹⁰, Tianyu Yang^{7

5}, Naijia Liu^{7

5}, Zengyao Lv⁹, Nathan S Purwanto¹¹, Yue Ying¹⁷, Yinsheng Lu^{5

11}, Claire Hoepfner⁵, Altynai Melisova⁴, Jiarui Gong¹⁸, Jinheon Jeong¹⁹, Junhwan Choi²⁰, Alex Hou^{5

4}, Rachel Nolander^{5

4}, Wubin Bai²¹, Sung Hun Jin¹⁹, Zhenqiang Ma¹⁸, John M Torkelson^{11

14}, Yonggang Huang²², Wei Ouyang^{23

24

25}, Rishi K Arora^{26

27}, Igor R Efimov^{28

29

30}, John A Rogers^{31

32

33

34

35}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. ymzhang@nus.edu.sg.
² Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. ymzhang@nus.edu.sg.
³ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. ymzhang@nus.edu.sg.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁵ Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁶ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁷ Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁸ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
⁹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
¹⁰ Feinberg Cardiovascular and Renal Research Institute, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
¹² Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
¹³ The BioRobotics Institute and Department of Excellence in Robotics and AI, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
¹⁴ Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
¹⁵ Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹⁶ Center for Comparative Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Electronic Engineering, Incheon National University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
²⁰ Department of Chemical Engineering, Dankook University, Yongin, Republic of Korea.
²¹ Department of Applied Physical Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
²² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. y-huang@northwestern.edu.
²³ Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. wei.ouyang@dartmouth.edu.
²⁴ Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. wei.ouyang@dartmouth.edu.
²⁵ Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA. wei.ouyang@dartmouth.edu.
²⁶ Feinberg Cardiovascular and Renal Research Institute, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA. rishi.arora@bsd.uchicago.edu.
²⁷ The University of Chicago Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. rishi.arora@bsd.uchicago.edu.
²⁸ Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. igor.efimov@northwestern.edu.
²⁹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. igor.efimov@northwestern.edu.
³⁰ Feinberg Cardiovascular and Renal Research Institute, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA. igor.efimov@northwestern.edu.
³¹ Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
³² Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
³³ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
³⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
³⁵ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 40175757
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08726-4

Millimetre-scale bioresorbable optoelectronic systems for electrotherapy

Yamin Zhang et al. Nature. 2025 Apr.

. 2025 Apr;640(8057):77-86.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-08726-4. Epub 2025 Apr 2.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. ymzhang@nus.edu.sg.
² Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. ymzhang@nus.edu.sg.
³ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. ymzhang@nus.edu.sg.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁵ Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁶ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁷ Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁸ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
⁹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
¹⁰ Feinberg Cardiovascular and Renal Research Institute, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
¹² Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
¹³ The BioRobotics Institute and Department of Excellence in Robotics and AI, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
¹⁴ Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
¹⁵ Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹⁶ Center for Comparative Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Electronic Engineering, Incheon National University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
²⁰ Department of Chemical Engineering, Dankook University, Yongin, Republic of Korea.
²¹ Department of Applied Physical Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
²² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. y-huang@northwestern.edu.
²³ Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. wei.ouyang@dartmouth.edu.
²⁴ Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. wei.ouyang@dartmouth.edu.
²⁵ Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA. wei.ouyang@dartmouth.edu.
²⁶ Feinberg Cardiovascular and Renal Research Institute, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA. rishi.arora@bsd.uchicago.edu.
²⁷ The University of Chicago Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. rishi.arora@bsd.uchicago.edu.
²⁸ Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. igor.efimov@northwestern.edu.
²⁹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. igor.efimov@northwestern.edu.
³⁰ Feinberg Cardiovascular and Renal Research Institute, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA. igor.efimov@northwestern.edu.
³¹ Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
³² Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
³³ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
³⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.
³⁵ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jrogers@northwestern.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 40175757
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08726-4

Abstract

Temporary pacemakers are essential for the care of patients with short-lived bradycardia in post-operative and other settings^1-4. Conventional devices require invasive open-heart surgery or less invasive endovascular surgery, both of which are challenging for paediatric and adult patients^5-8. Other complications^9-11 include risks of infections, lacerations and perforations of the myocardium, and of displacements of external power supplies and control systems. Here we introduce a millimetre-scale bioresorbable optoelectronic system with an onboard power supply and a wireless, optical control mechanism with generalized capabilities in electrotherapy and specific application opportunities in temporary cardiac pacing. The extremely small sizes of these devices enable minimally invasive implantation, including percutaneous injection and endovascular delivery. Experimental studies demonstrate effective pacing in mouse, rat, porcine, canine and human cardiac models at both single-site and multi-site locations. Pairing with a skin-interfaced wireless device allows autonomous, closed-loop operation upon detection of arrhythmias. Further work illustrates opportunities in combining these miniaturized devices with other medical implants, with an example of arrays of pacemakers for individual or collective use on the frames of transcatheter aortic valve replacement systems, to provide unique solutions that address risks for atrioventricular block following surgeries. This base technology can be readily adapted for a broad range of additional applications in electrotherapy, such as nerve and bone regeneration, wound therapy and pain management.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

References

1. Choi, Y. S. et al. Fully implantable and bioresorbable cardiac pacemakers without leads or batteries. Nat. Biotechnol. 39, 1228–1238 (2021). - PubMed - PMC - DOI
1. Zhang, Y. et al. Advances in bioresorbable materials and electronics. Chem. Rev. 123, 11722–11773 (2023). - PubMed - DOI
1. Choi, Y. S. et al. A transient, closed-loop network of wireless, body-integrated devices for autonomous electrotherapy. Science 376, 1006–1012 (2022). - PubMed - PMC - DOI
1. Lumia, F. J. & Rios, J. C. Temporary transvenous pacemaker therapy: an analysis of complications. Chest 64, 604–608 (1973). - PubMed - DOI
1. Wood, M. A. & Ellenbogen, K. A. Cardiac pacemakers from the patient’s perspective. Circulation 105, 2136–2138 (2002). - PubMed - DOI

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Millimetre-scale bioresorbable optoelectronic systems for electrotherapy

Affiliations

Millimetre-scale bioresorbable optoelectronic systems for electrotherapy

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

MeSH terms

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