IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-57016-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bio-inspired electronics: Soft, biohybrid, and “living” neural interfaces

Author

Listed:
  • Dimitris Boufidis

    (University of Pennsylvania
    Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center
    University of Pennsylvania)

  • Raghav Garg

    (University of Pennsylvania
    University of Pennsylvania)

  • Eugenia Angelopoulos

    (University of Pennsylvania
    University of Pennsylvania)

  • D. Kacy Cullen

    (University of Pennsylvania
    Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center
    University of Pennsylvania
    University of Pennsylvania)

  • Flavia Vitale

    (University of Pennsylvania
    Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center
    University of Pennsylvania
    University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

Neural interface technologies are increasingly evolving towards bio-inspired approaches to enhance integration and long-term functionality. Recent strategies merge soft materials with tissue engineering to realize biologically-active and/or cell-containing living layers at the tissue-device interface that enable seamless biointegration and novel cell-mediated therapeutic opportunities. This review maps the field of bio-inspired electronics and discusses key recent developments in tissue-like and regenerative bioelectronics, from soft biomaterials and surface-functionalized bioactive coatings to cell-containing ‘biohybrid’ and ‘all-living’ interfaces. We define and contextualize key terminology in this emerging field and highlight how biological and living components can bridge the gap to clinical translation.

Suggested Citation

  • Dimitris Boufidis & Raghav Garg & Eugenia Angelopoulos & D. Kacy Cullen & Flavia Vitale, 2025. "Bio-inspired electronics: Soft, biohybrid, and “living” neural interfaces," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-17, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-57016-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57016-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57016-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-57016-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Takao Someya & Zhenan Bao & George G. Malliaras, 2016. "The rise of plastic bioelectronics," Nature, Nature, vol. 540(7633), pages 379-385, December.
    2. Inkyu Lee & Abhijith Surendran & Samantha Fleury & Ian Gimino & Alexander Curtiss & Cody Fell & Daniel J. Shiwarski & Omar Refy & Blaine Rothrock & Seonghan Jo & Tim Schwartzkopff & Abijeet Singh Meht, 2023. "Electrocatalytic on-site oxygenation for transplanted cell-based-therapies," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Jonathan A. Fan & Woon-Hong Yeo & Yewang Su & Yoshiaki Hattori & Woosik Lee & Sung-Young Jung & Yihui Zhang & Zhuangjian Liu & Huanyu Cheng & Leo Falgout & Mike Bajema & Todd Coleman & Dan Gregoire & , 2014. "Fractal design concepts for stretchable electronics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-8, May.
    4. Seongjun Park & Hyunwoo Yuk & Ruike Zhao & Yeong Shin Yim & Eyob W. Woldeghebriel & Jeewoo Kang & Andres Canales & Yoel Fink & Gloria B. Choi & Xuanhe Zhao & Polina Anikeeva, 2021. "Adaptive and multifunctional hydrogel hybrid probes for long-term sensing and modulation of neural activity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Ovijit Chaudhuri & Justin Cooper-White & Paul A. Janmey & David J. Mooney & Vivek B. Shenoy, 2020. "Effects of extracellular matrix viscoelasticity on cellular behaviour," Nature, Nature, vol. 584(7822), pages 535-546, August.
    6. Suseendrakumar Duraivel & Shervin Rahimpour & Chia-Han Chiang & Michael Trumpis & Charles Wang & Katrina Barth & Stephen C. Harward & Shivanand P. Lad & Allan H. Friedman & Derek G. Southwell & Saurab, 2023. "High-resolution neural recordings improve the accuracy of speech decoding," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, December.
    7. Henri Lorach & Andrea Galvez & Valeria Spagnolo & Felix Martel & Serpil Karakas & Nadine Intering & Molywan Vat & Olivier Faivre & Cathal Harte & Salif Komi & Jimmy Ravier & Thibault Collin & Laure Co, 2023. "Walking naturally after spinal cord injury using a brain–spine interface," Nature, Nature, vol. 618(7963), pages 126-133, June.
    8. Jinxing Li & Yuxin Liu & Lei Yuan & Baibing Zhang & Estelle Spear Bishop & Kecheng Wang & Jing Tang & Yu-Qing Zheng & Wenhui Xu & Simiao Niu & Levent Beker & Thomas L. Li & Gan Chen & Modupeola Diyaol, 2022. "A tissue-like neurotransmitter sensor for the brain and gut," Nature, Nature, vol. 606(7912), pages 94-101, June.
    9. Faisal Mushtaq & Dominik Welke & Anne Gallagher & Yuri G. Pavlov & Layla Kouara & Jorge Bosch-Bayard & Jasper J. F. Bosch & Mahnaz Arvaneh & Amy R. Bland & Maximilien Chaumon & Cornelius Borck & Xun H, 2024. "One hundred years of EEG for brain and behaviour research," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(8), pages 1437-1443, August.
    10. Leigh R. Hochberg & Mijail D. Serruya & Gerhard M. Friehs & Jon A. Mukand & Maryam Saleh & Abraham H. Caplan & Almut Branner & David Chen & Richard D. Penn & John P. Donoghue, 2006. "Neuronal ensemble control of prosthetic devices by a human with tetraplegia," Nature, Nature, vol. 442(7099), pages 164-171, July.
    11. Jonathan Rivnay & Sahika Inal & Brian A. Collins & Michele Sessolo & Eleni Stavrinidou & Xenofon Strakosas & Christopher Tassone & Dean M. Delongchamp & George G. Malliaras, 2016. "Structural control of mixed ionic and electronic transport in conducting polymers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-9, September.
    12. Sean L. Metzger & Kaylo T. Littlejohn & Alexander B. Silva & David A. Moses & Margaret P. Seaton & Ran Wang & Maximilian E. Dougherty & Jessie R. Liu & Peter Wu & Michael A. Berger & Inga Zhuravleva &, 2023. "A high-performance neuroprosthesis for speech decoding and avatar control," Nature, Nature, vol. 620(7976), pages 1037-1046, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sizhe Huang & Xinyue Liu & Shaoting Lin & Christopher Glynn & Kayla Felix & Atharva Sahasrabudhe & Collin Maley & Jingyi Xu & Weixuan Chen & Eunji Hong & Alfred J. Crosby & Qianbin Wang & Siyuan Rao, 2024. "Control of polymers’ amorphous-crystalline transition enables miniaturization and multifunctional integration for hydrogel bioelectronics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Jung Min Lee & Young-Woo Pyo & Yeon Jun Kim & Jin Hee Hong & Yonghyeon Jo & Wonshik Choi & Dingchang Lin & Hong-Gyu Park, 2023. "The ultra-thin, minimally invasive surface electrode array NeuroWeb for probing neural activity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Lukas M. Bongartz & Richard Kantelberg & Tommy Meier & Raik Hoffmann & Christian Matthus & Anton Weissbach & Matteo Cucchi & Hans Kleemann & Karl Leo, 2024. "Bistable organic electrochemical transistors: enthalpy vs. entropy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Yuchen Qiu & Bo Zhang & Junchuan Yang & Hanfei Gao & Shuang Li & Le Wang & Penghua Wu & Yewang Su & Yan Zhao & Jiangang Feng & Lei Jiang & Yuchen Wu, 2021. "Wafer-scale integration of stretchable semiconducting polymer microstructures via capillary gradient," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Young-Geun Park & Yong Won Kwon & Chin Su Koh & Enji Kim & Dong Ha Lee & Sumin Kim & Jongmin Mun & Yeon-Mi Hong & Sanghoon Lee & Ju-Young Kim & Jae-Hyun Lee & Hyun Ho Jung & Jinwoo Cheon & Jin Woo Cha, 2024. "In-vivo integration of soft neural probes through high-resolution printing of liquid electronics on the cranium," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Tong Li & Zhidong Wei & Fei Jin & Yongjiu Yuan & Weiying Zheng & Lili Qian & Hongbo Wang & Lisha Hua & Juan Ma & Huanhuan Zhang & Huaduo Gu & Michael G. Irwin & Ting Wang & Steven Wang & Zuankai Wang , 2023. "Soft ferroelectret ultrasound receiver for targeted peripheral neuromodulation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Huimin He & Xi Wei & Bin Yang & Hongzhen Liu & Mingze Sun & Yanran Li & Aixin Yan & Chuyang Y. Tang & Yuan Lin & Lizhi Xu, 2022. "Ultrastrong and multifunctional aerogels with hyperconnective network of composite polymeric nanofibers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    8. Liang Zou & Huihui Tian & Shouliang Guan & Jianfei Ding & Lei Gao & Jinfen Wang & Ying Fang, 2021. "Self-assembled multifunctional neural probes for precise integration of optogenetics and electrophysiology," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    9. Yangteng Ou & Shixiang Cao & Yang Zhang & Hongjia Zhu & Chengzhi Guo & Wei Yan & Fengxue Xin & Weiliang Dong & Yanli Zhang & Masashi Narita & Ziyi Yu & Tuomas P. J. Knowles, 2023. "Bioprinting microporous functional living materials from protein-based core-shell microgels," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    10. Martin Hjort & Abdelrazek H. Mousa & David Bliman & Muhammad Anwar Shameem & Karin Hellman & Amit Singh Yadav & Peter Ekström & Fredrik Ek & Roger Olsson, 2023. "In situ assembly of bioresorbable organic bioelectronics in the brain," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    11. Yao Ni & Jiaqi Liu & Hong Han & Qianbo Yu & Lu Yang & Zhipeng Xu & Chengpeng Jiang & Lu Liu & Wentao Xu, 2024. "Visualized in-sensor computing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    12. Ujwal Chaudhary & Bin Xia & Stefano Silvoni & Leonardo G Cohen & Niels Birbaumer, 2017. "Brain–Computer Interface–Based Communication in the Completely Locked-In State," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(1), pages 1-25, January.
    13. Zhouheng Wang & Nanlin Shi & Yingchao Zhang & Ning Zheng & Haicheng Li & Yang Jiao & Jiahui Cheng & Yutong Wang & Xiaoqing Zhang & Ying Chen & Yihao Chen & Heling Wang & Tao Xie & Yijun Wang & Yinji M, 2023. "Conformal in-ear bioelectronics for visual and auditory brain-computer interfaces," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    14. Rugang Geng & Adrian Mena & William J. Pappas & Dane R. McCamey, 2023. "Sub-micron spin-based magnetic field imaging with an organic light emitting diode," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    15. Guang Yao & Xiaoyi Mo & Shanshan Liu & Qian Wang & Maowen Xie & Wenhao Lou & Shiyan Chen & Taisong Pan & Ke Chen & Dezhong Yao & Yuan Lin, 2023. "Snowflake-inspired and blink-driven flexible piezoelectric contact lenses for effective corneal injury repair," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    16. No-Sang Kwak & Klaus-Robert Müller & Seong-Whan Lee, 2017. "A convolutional neural network for steady state visual evoked potential classification under ambulatory environment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-20, February.
    17. Tian Li & Haobo Qi & Cancan Zhao & Zhenming Li & Wei Zhou & Guanjin Li & Hao Zhuo & Wei Zhai, 2025. "Robust skin-integrated conductive biogel for high-fidelity detection under mechanical stress," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-15, December.
    18. Xinchen Ni & Haiwen Luan & Jin-Tae Kim & Sam I. Rogge & Yun Bai & Jean Won Kwak & Shangliangzi Liu & Da Som Yang & Shuo Li & Shupeng Li & Zhengwei Li & Yamin Zhang & Changsheng Wu & Xiaoyue Ni & Yongg, 2022. "Soft shape-programmable surfaces by fast electromagnetic actuation of liquid metal networks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    19. Zhao Wang & Jan Lauko & Amanda W. Kijas & Elliot P. Gilbert & Petri Turunen & Ramanathan Yegappan & Dongxiu Zou & Jitendra Mata & Alan E. Rowan, 2023. "Snake venom-defined fibrin architecture dictates fibroblast survival and differentiation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, December.
    20. Woojin Choi & Utkarsh Mangal & Jae-Hun Yu & Jeong-Hyun Ryu & Ji‑Yeong Kim & Taesuk Jun & Yoojin Lee & Heesu Cho & Moonhyun Choi & Milae Lee & Du Yeol Ryu & Sang-Young Lee & Se Yong Jung & Jae-Kook Cha, 2024. "Viscoelastic and antimicrobial dental care bioplastic with recyclable life cycle," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-57016-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.