Nov 27, 2023
New era of cyborganics – Prof. Ivan Minev receives an ERC Consolidator Grant
Prestigious and highly funded grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for a scientist at the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF) and the TUD Dresden University of Technology: Prof. Dr. Ivan Minev receives an ERC Consolidator Grant for the project GELECTRO (Hydrogel Machines for Seamless Living System Interfaces). Over the next five years, the ERC will provide two million euro of funding for the development of a new class of electronic components that consist almost entirely of water and could make the interface between biological tissue and machine seamless.
The development of electrically conductive hydrogels that synergistically combine biomacromolecules and organic electronic materials is a decisive step forward. These can be assembled into miniaturized devices and circuits and used to measure and control biochemical, bioelectrical and biomechanical processes in living systems. Today, electronic systems are very good at handling information, interacting with the environment and even performing tasks autonomously. Direct communication between electronic systems and living matter, on the other hand, does not yet function optimally. One of the reasons for this is that electrical devices currently need to be well protected from moisture at all times.
"This can radically change what electronic systems can do, especially inside the body. Imagine that with this technology we can make medical implants that autonomously repair damage in the nervous system caused by injury or degeneration", says Professor Minev about the innovative application possibilities of his research.
The project will set standards and prerequisites for the further development of electronic tissue technologies to enable miniaturized implanted laboratories for next-generation (bioelectronic) medicine.
Prof. Ivan R. Minev holds the joint Else Kröner Professorship for Electronic Tissue Technologies at the IPF and the Else Kröner Fresenius Center (EKFZ) for Digital Health since June 2023. https://digitalhealth.tu-dresden.de/people/electronic-tissue-technologies
The ERC project is a collaboration between IPF, EKFZ for Digital Health and the Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus at the TUD Dresden University of Technology.