the natural sciences are no different than collaborations between scientists and re­

searchers in other disciplines of study. Through the use of a certain approach, materials

with similar chemistries but different functionality may be used in combination to de­

velop bioelectronic devices that have capabilities to exceed the capabilities of either

material alone. In the vast majority of cases, such strategies will provide extremely va­

luable insights into the situation.

The utilization of hard-soft composites to lessen the impact of mechanical mismatch

between a device and a tissue, while simultaneously enabling unique sensing and stimu­

lation avenues, serves as a mechanical example of this concept. Furthermore, discoveries in

disciplines that are adjacent to bioelectronics have the added benefit of opening up a wide

range of new possibilities for bioelectronics applications. One of the most often discussed

topics in the realm of energy input techniques with a good spatiotemporal resolution, such

as acoustic, optical, and magnetic impulses, is the application of these techniques to dra­

matically enhance the localization of different therapies. New technologies are required to

successfully construct structures at the nanoscale, and new metrology and using biological

assemblages for nanoscale manufacturing are hot topics right now. Fabrication of complex

physical features onto substrates with essential dimensions of less than 1 nm, development

of metrology instruments for testing and measuring nanoscale features, and surfaces for

controlling antibody and antigen-binding are being developed.

Despite the significant advancements in bioelectronics, to move bioelectronics ahead

further, innovation is required in many broad areas, including measurements and analysis,

fabrication, biocompatibility, and power sources. In general, these cross-cutting issues are

caused by a lack of technological advancement, a lack of biological knowledge, or a com­

bination of the two factors. To achieve the essential advances, it will be important to co­

ordinate and bring together the expertise that exists across government agencies, university

research institutes, and industry. Among the manufacturing issues are the development

of improved sensors and the development of innovative fabrication processes. It is also

difficult to merge numerous sensing technologies with integrated circuit technologies.

Biosensors will play a critical part in addressing future bioelectronics needs, and increases

in bandwidth and detection limits will be required to satisfy these expectations.

Developing a detailed bioelectronics roadmap with input from the government, aca­

demic institutions, and the private sector would be an excellent next step. Such a road

map would allow for more effective planning and resource management, as well as

an increase in the productivity and commercialization of bioelectronics research and

development. Such an activity would establish and explain expected application-specific

research metrics and metrology gaps and needs, as well as timescales for research,

development, and prototyping, as well as upcoming market and commercialization op­

portunities and challenges in bioelectronics. To build synergistic combinations of some of

the recent results presented in this chapter, we predict that chemical considerations will

be used successfully soon, with considerable success being achieved in bioelectronics.

Moreover, the following shortcomings are also necessary for the development of this

field: (i) understanding molecule/cell-electronic interactions; (ii) understanding cellular

reactions to a stimulus; and (iii) researchers must understand how molecules interact

with each other to deliver appropriate therapeutic materials and stimuli in real time and

can detect, identify, and quantify thousands of biomarkers simultaneously. Collaboration

between the electronics and biomedical device industries, as well as university and

government research groups, will hasten the transition of this interdisciplinary research

to commercial devices. Leadership from diverse fields must be prepared to commit to

collaborative activities when multidisciplinary input is required for success.

14

Bioelectronics