Electronic Circuits That Bend and Stretch From: IEEE Spectrum Tech Alert - 04/03/2008 By: Willie D. Jones New circuits built from ribbons of silicon only a few nanometers thick mounted on flexible plastic substrates nearly match the performance of conventional CMOS chips. They could find use soon in applications like implantable sensors, which would monitor electrical activity in the brain to help predict the onset of epileptic seizures. Illinois researchers are proceeding with partnerships with physicians who are developing biomedical devices incorporating the circuits. For example, a clinical neurosurgeon at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, is working with the Illinois team to create an implantable sensor that will monitor electrical activity in the brain to help predict the onset of epileptic seizures. The device may also work in reverse, sending electric pulses that head off the seizures. "This requires a device that will conform to the rippled geometry of the brain, because the deep creases in the lobes are where a lot of the action happens," says Professor John A. Rogers,. Read the entire article at: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/mar08/6108 John A. Rogers http://www.mse.uiuc.edu/faculty/rogers/profile.html Roger Research Group - Current Research Projects http://rogers.mse.uiuc.edu/research.html Electronic Circuits That Bend and Stretch http://rogers.mse.uiuc.edu/files/2008/ieeestretch.pdf Silicon Circuits That Fold and Stretch http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/86/i13/8613notw1.html Litt NeuroEngineering Lab http://www.seas.upenn.edu/%7elittlab/Site/Home.html