Bioelectronic device is loaded with bacteria

Early bioelectronics were rigid, bulky devices like pacemakers that did their jobs but didn’t mesh well with flesh. In recent years, scientists have created bioelectronic sensors and stimulators made with soft, pliable hydrogels and elastomers that interact better with bodies. Now researchers have added another element to bioelectronic devices: living bacteria.

Researchers led by the University of Chicago’s Bozhi Tian and Jiping Yue and Rutgers University’s Simiao Niu created sensors that can monitor skin properties, including body temperature, humidity, and electrical impedance. Those physical parameters are relevant to the disease progression and recovery processes for a certain skin condition, Tian says.

The devices also contain a hydrogel­—made from starch and gelatin—that’s loaded with Staphylococcus epidermidis. These bacteria release healing metabolites and biological components that diffuse through the hydrogel to the skin. In proof-of-concept tests with mice, the devices were able to treat the skin condition psoriasis (Science 2024, DOI: 10.1126/science.adl1102).

“After we know that the treatment is done, then we can wirelessly deliver a trigger to the device to apply a current to kill all the bacteria,” Tian says.

Stanford University’s Zhenan Bao, an expert in bioelectronics who was not involved in the work, says in an email that “it is an interesting concept to combine an active biological (living) substance with bioelectronics to work synchronously to promote the best outcome for bioelectronic treatment. I think this opens up a lot of new possibilities and inspires many new ideas.”

Tian says the group is working on creating systems that can monitor skin conditions and regulate bacteria to treat them accordingly. The researchers are also studying the technology for wound healing and would like to create devices that can operate inside the body—for example, to treat irritable bowel syndrome.