# The Tissue-Engineered Electronic Nerve Interface (TEENI)

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2022 · $586,725

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY:
For amputees to exploit the full capability of state-of-the-art prosthetic limbs with rapid fine-movement control and high-
resolution sensory percepts, a nerve-interface with a large number of reliable and independent channels of motor and
sensory information is needed. The strongest signal sources in nerves are the nodes of Ranvier, which are essentially
distributed randomly within a small 3-D volume. Thus, to comprehensively engage with the electrical activity of a nerve,
a neural interface should interrogate a nerve in a 3-D volume of the same scale. To date, the clinical translatability,
performance, and/or operational lifetime of all existing nerve-interfaces are either: limited to low channel counts and/or
non-3-D electrode arrangements, capable of detecting single-unit activity at only very low signal amplitudes that are often
swamped by noise, and/or trigger a foreign body response linked to diminished channel performance over time. Our
paradigm-shifting approach for 3-D scalable nerve interfaces is to integrate a stack of multi-electrode thin-film polyimide-
metal electrode arrays (“threads”) into tissue-engineered biodegradable extracellular-matrix-based hydrogel nerve
scaffold. We call this new class of neural interface Tissue-Engineered Electronic Nerve Interfaces (TEENI). In
preliminary studies we demonstrated that we can (1) microfabricate multi-electrode arrays that can survive high-
temperature reactive-accelerated aging (RAA) soak tests through the use of amorphous silicon-carbide and titanium
adhesion layers between the metal and polyimide layers, (2) form a 3-D array of electrodes by integrating a stack of
polymer-metal multi-electrode arrays into an extracellular-matrix-based hydrogel scaffold wrapped with small-intestinal
submucosa (SIS) to support the hydrogel, provide suturable ends for attachment to the nerve, and facilitate easy surgical
handling and implantation without limiting the design of the electrode array or damaging it, (3) achieve robust
regeneration of vasculature and neural fibers into the TEENI scaffold, and (4) obtain chronic recordings of single-unit
activity inside TEENI implants. However, we made two observations that motivated the specific aims for this proposal.
First, we observed a tight tissue response around each thread that that could limit the density of 3-D TEENI multi-
electrode-thread integration. Second, we observed that only a fraction of the regenerated nerve tissue preferentially grew
along the microfabricated multi-electrode arrays, with the remainder growing along the inner surface of the SIS wrap and
with incompletely degraded hydrogel between the two. In Specific Aim 1 we propose to reduce the size of the foreign
body response in the same manner it has been achieved with microfabricated probes implanted into brain tissue: reduce
the width and thickness of the implant to ~10 µm and ~1 µm respectively. In Specific Aim 2 we propose to use
microchannel-templated hydrogels t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10402785
- **Project number:** 5R01NS111518-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Jack W Judy
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $586,725
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-15 → 2024-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10402785

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10402785, The Tissue-Engineered Electronic Nerve Interface (TEENI) (5R01NS111518-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10402785. Licensed CC0.

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