3D-Printed “Honeycomb” Sensors Match Your Unique Neural Map

 

With this our researchers could listen in on neuroplasticity signals and figure out how to make them repeatable on demand, thus ensuring recovery! At least if we had ANY LEADERSIP AT ALL IN STROKE!

But the stroke leaders would already have ensured that listening to brain signals by using one of these already! Add sarcasm tag here.

1. Use nanowires to listen in on single neurons

2. Or lay a grid across the cortex to listen in.

3. Electronic tattoo decodes brainwaves January 2025

4.Electronic Mesh Wraps Around Mini-Brains to Eavesdrop on Neural Circuits February 2026

But we have NO stroke leaders, nothing will get done until we get survivors in charge.

Leaders solve problems, they don't run away from them.

The latest here:

3D-Printed “Honeycomb” Sensors Match Your Unique Neural Map

Summary: No two brains are shaped exactly alike, yet most neural implants use a “one-size-fits-all” design. Researchers have developed a breakthrough approach to 3D printing soft, stretchable bioelectrodes tailored to the specific ridges (gyri) and grooves (sulci) of an individual’s brain.

These hydrogel-based sensors provide nearly perfect connectivity and better signal quality without damaging sensitive brain tissue or disrupting fluid transport.

Key Findings

• Superior Signal: Because the electrodes follow the brain’s unique structure precisely, they maintain “nearly perfect” connectivity, resulting in higher-quality data for monitoring diseases.
• Biocompatibility: In rat models, the sensors remained effective for 28 days with zero immune response, proving they are safe for long-term “implantation.”
• Pizza-Sized Complexity: The researchers noted that if an adult brain were spread flat, it would cover 2,000 square centimeters (the size of two large pizzas). Their 3D-printed mesh is the first to navigate this vast, folded terrain comfortably.
• Commercial Scalability: This framework provides a roadmap for mass-producing patient-specific bioelectrodes for both monitoring and potentially treating neurodegenerative disorders.

Soft electrodes designed to perfectly match a person’s brain surface may help advance neural interfaces for neurodegenerative disease monitoring and treatment, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers.

Neural interfaces are powered by tiny sensors capable of tracking biophysical signals, known as bioelectrodes. These sensors are usually made from stiff materials in a one-size-fits-all design that struggles to match the brain’s complex structure.

The researchers have created a novel approach to 3D printing bioelectrodes that can stretch and morph to fit the minor differences that make every brain unique.

The soft bioelectrodes use a honeycomb-inspired design that allows researchers to stretch them onto the specific geometry of a patient’s brain, without sacrificing structural strength or sensitivity to electrical and physiological signals. Credit: Tao Zhou

The team used software to simulate detailed brains based on MRI scans taken from 21 human patients, shaping a set of electrodes tailored for brains’ specific structures before 3D printing the electrodes and models of the brains.

In a paper published in Advanced Materials, they reported that their electrodes better fit the structure of the brain than traditional designs, while remaining effective and biologically compatible, even in tests done in rats.

The folds in the human brain are created through a process known as gyrification, where the cortical sheet on the outer wall of the brain bunches up into ridges, known as gyri, and grooves, known as sulci. This helps cells across the brain communicate at high speeds, and allows for a relatively large organ to fit compactly in the skull — a spread-out adult brain would be around 2,000 square centimeters, or about the size of two large pizzas.

Although the major cortical folds are consistent across individuals, the precise layout of the brain’s gryi and sulci changes substantially from person to person, according to Tao Zhou, Wormley Family Early Career Professor, assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics and corresponding author on the paper. However, traditional bioelectrode designs don’t take this into account.

“Each person has a different brain structure, depending on their height, weight, age, sex and more,” said Zhou, who also holds an affiliation in biomedical engineering and the center for neural engineering at Penn State.

“Despite this, we try to fit neural interfaces onto brains like they have identical structures. This motivated us to create electrodes that are tailored for each individual, based on the structure of their brain.”

The electrodes are built mainly from a water-rich material known as hydrogel to better match with the soft tissues and patient-specific geometry of a brain. Furthermore, the team used a novel honeycomb-inspired structure that offers flexibility and strength, while remaining cost-effective and quick to print, according to Zhou.

“The honeycomb structure helps us significantly reduce the stiffness of the electrodes, without sacrificing their mechanical strength,” Zhou said. “What’s more, the structure helps us reduce the overall material used during fabrication, reducing production time, cost and environmental impact.”

Production starts by taking an MRI scan of a patient’s brain, which is used to conduct finite element analysis — a process that creates a detailed simulation of a person’s neural structure. This analysis is then rendered as a 3D model of the patient’s brain, where the team uses computer software to tailor a bioelectrode specifically morphed to fit the ridges and grooves of the cerebral cortex.

After shaping, the team 3D prints the hydrogel electrode using direct ink printing, a technique that can create electrodes capable of monitoring and transmitting brain signals over a relatively small surface. For this study, the team 3D printed models of 21 different participant brains, applying their electrodes and physically measuring how accurately the electrodes could fit the brain surface.

Zhou explained how traditional fabrication approaches require specialized facilities like clean rooms, making them incredibly expensive to customize — 3D printing allows the team to personalize and manufacture electrodes much faster, for a fraction of the price.

Compared to traditional approaches, the hydrogel-based electrodes follow the structure of the brain more precisely. Zhou said their approach produces electrodes that exhibit nearly perfect connectivity to electrical signals present in the brain. Additionally, because the stretchy gel is so malleable, it can be applied to the soft brain tissue without causing damage, compared to the stiff materials comprising other designs that could damage tissue.

According to Zhou, the softness of their electrodes enables closer and more stable contact with the brain, in turn facilitating higher-quality, more reliable monitoring. Moreover, bioelectrodes made with this approach don’t impact fluid transport around the brain, a critical aspect of brain function that many traditional electrodes disrupt.

“Personalizing the electrodes to the brain’s specific structure substantially improves their reliability,” Zhou said. “Because they conform to the brain better, the signal quality itself is significantly improved.”

To further study their electrodes, the team placed them onto the brains of rat models over a period of 28 days. The rats did not exhibit any immune response to the printed electrodes, a key consideration in biodevice development, Zhou said. Additionally, the electrodes did not exhibit performance degradation, while offering sensitive and accurate readings of the electric and physiological signals in the brain.Zhou said he believes that this printing method could serve as a framework for the commercial-scale printing of bioelectrodes customized for specific patients. Although these systems are traditionally used for monitoring neural activity, the team plans to explore how personalized electrodes may contribute to neurological treatments.

“We are looking to further improve this technology to optimize the electrodes to monitor for specific diseases,” Zhou said. “In the future, we would really like to work with patients to see how this approach could support brain monitoring and disease treatment in clinical settings.”

Additional co-authors affiliated with Penn State include Nanyin Zhang, professor of biomedical engineering and Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Brain Imaging; Sulin Zhang, professor of engineering science and mechanics and of biomedical engineering; engineering science and mechanics doctoral candidates Marzia Momin, Luyi Feng, Salahuddin Ahmed and Jiashu Ren; biomedical engineering doctoral candidates Xiaoai Chen, Hyunjin Lee and post-doctoral scholar Samuel R. Cramer; mechanical engineering doctoral candidate Xinyi Wang; Basma AlMahood, an undergraduate student studying physics at the time of research who is now a physics doctoral candidate at Michigan State University; and Li-Pang Huang, a research assistant.

Funding: This work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

Key Questions Answered:

Q: How “soft” are these electrodes?

A: They are made primarily of hydrogel, a material that is mostly water. This allows them to “morph” and stretch along with the brain’s natural movements, making them feel more like a part of the organ rather than a foreign object.

Q: Does this mean we can have “custom-fit” brain-computer interfaces for gaming or work?

A: While the current focus is on medical treatment for diseases like Parkinson’s or epilepsy, the ability to 3D print custom-fit sensors quickly and cheaply definitely paves the way for more comfortable consumer neural interfaces in the future.

Q: Why use a “honeycomb” shape?

A: Nature knows best! The honeycomb structure provides maximum strength with minimum material. It makes the electrode sturdy enough to handle but flexible enough to sink into the deep “grooves” (sulci) of the brain without snapping.

Editorial Notes:

• This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.
• Journal paper reviewed in full.
• Additional context added by our staff.

About this neurotech research news

Author: Ty Tkacik
Source: Penn State
Contact: Ty Tkacik – Penn State
Image: The image is credited to Tao Zhou

Original Research: Open access.
“3D-Printable, Honeycomb-Inspired Tissue-Like Bioelectrodes for Patient-Specific Neural Interface” by Marzia Momin, Luyi Feng, Xiaoai Chen, Salahuddin Ahmed, Basma AlMahmood, Li-Pang Huang, Jiashu Ren, Xinyi Wang, Hyunjin Lee, Samuel R. Cramer, Nanyin Zhang, Sulin Zhang, Tao Zhou. Advanced Materials
DOI:10.1002/adma.202516291

Electronic Mesh Wraps Around Mini-Brains to Eavesdrop on Neural Circuits

 With this our researchers could listen in on neuroplasticity signals and figure out how to make them repeatable on demand, thus ensuring recovery! At least if we had ANY LEADERSIP AT ALL IN STROKE!

But the stroke leaders would already have ensured that listening to brain signals by using one of these already! Add sarcasm tag here.

1. Use nanowires to listen in on single neurons

2. Or lay a grid across the cortex to listen in.

3. Electronic tattoo decodes brainwaves January 2025

But we have NO stroke leaders, nothing will get done until we get survivors in charge.

Leaders solve problems, they don't run away from them.

The latest here:

Electronic Mesh Wraps Around Mini-Brains to Eavesdrop on Neural Circuits

Summary: For the first time, scientists can record the full “electrical dialogue” occurring across an entire lab-grown human organoid. While these “mini-brains” are powerful tools for studying development and disease, previous technology could only sample a tiny fraction of their activity using flat, rigid sensors.

A new study reveals a breakthrough: a soft, 3D bioelectronic framework that “pops up” to envelope the organoid like a high-tech mesh. With hundreds of miniaturized electrodes, this device captures synchronized rhythms spanning the entire tissue, allowing researchers to see how neural networks communicate, respond to drugs, and even grow into specific shapes.

Key Facts

• Full-Network Mapping: The device covers over 90% of the organoid’s surface, moving beyond localized probing to capture coordinated, whole-tissue neural rhythms.
• The “Pop-Up” Mechanism: Using mechanical buckling similar to a 3D pop-up book, the device transforms from a flat lattice into a spherical cage that gently hugs the tissue.
• Miniaturized Precision: The array features 240 electrodes, each only 10 microns in diameter—roughly the size of an individual human cell.
• Breathable Bioelectronics: The mesh is porous, allowing the living tissue to “breathe” by letting oxygen and nutrients in while waste products flow out.
• Growth Engineering: Beyond recording, the framework can be engineered into cubes or hexagons, forcing the organoids to grow into specific shapes for potential “stacking” in future multi-organ models.

Source: Northwestern University

A team led by Northwestern University and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab scientists have developed a new technology that can eavesdrop on the hidden electrical dialogues unfolding inside miniature, lab-grown human brain-like tissues.

Known as human neural organoids — and sometimes called “mini brains” — these millimeter-sized structures are powerful models of brain development and disease. But until now, scientists could only record and stimulate activity from a small fraction of their neurons — missing network-wide dynamics that give rise to coordinated rhythms, information processing and the complex patterns of activity that define brain function.

The soft, three-dimensional (3D) electronic framework wraps around an organoid like a breathable, high-tech mesh. Rather than sampling select regions, it delivers near-complete, shape-conforming coverage with hundreds of miniaturized electrodes. Credit: John A. Rogers/Northwestern University

For the first time, the new technology overcomes that stubborn limitation. The soft, three-dimensional (3D) electronic framework wraps around an organoid like a breathable, high-tech mesh.

Rather than sampling select regions, it delivers near-complete, shape-conforming coverage with hundreds of miniaturized electrodes. That dense, three-dimensional interfacing enables scientists to map and manipulate neural activity across almost the entire organoid.

By moving from localized probing to true whole-network mapping, the work brings organoid research closer to capturing how real human brains develop, function and even fail.

The study was published today (Feb. 18) in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

“Human stem cell-derived organoids have become a major focus of biomedical research because they enable patient-specific studies of how tissues respond to drugs and emerging therapies,” said Northwestern bioelectronic pioneer John A. Rogers, who led the device development.

“Labs in academia and industry have developed these tissue constructs over the years, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has initiated funding streams to accelerate work in this direction. A key missing component is hardware technology that can interrogate, stimulate and manipulate these tiny analogs to organs in the human body.”

“This advance is really about building the right tools for a new class of biological models,” said Dr. Colin Franz, who led the organoid development.

“Human neural organoids are living 3D tissues that contain active neural circuits communicating through electrical signals. However, the state-of-the-art instruments we use to study them were originally designed for flat layers of cells and do not interface well with organoids that are spherical and three dimensional. 

“By creating soft, shape-matched electronics that conform to the organoid’s geometry, we can now record from and stimulate hundreds of locations across its surface at once. This allows us to study neural activity at the level of whole networks rather than isolated signals.”

Rogers is the Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Neurological Surgery at Northwestern, where he has appointments in the McCormick School of Engineering and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He also directs the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics and the Querrey Simpson Institute for Translational Engineering for Advanced Medical Systems.

An expert in regenerative neuroscience, Franz is a physician-scientist at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and an associate professor of physical medicine & rehabilitation, medicine (pulmonary and critical care) and neurology at Feinberg and an attending physician. Rogers and Franz co-led the study with Yihui Zhang of Tsinghua University in China and John Finan of the University of Illinois Chicago.

From fragments to full networks

Over the past decade, scientists have moved from flat dishes of neurons to self-organizing, 3D mini brains grown from human stem cells. These organoids can develop interconnected neural circuits and generate synchronized electrical rhythms reminiscent of early brain development. 

“Human-derived, 3D tissue models like organoids are beginning to change how we study disease and develop treatments,” Franz said. “They also have the potential to reduce our reliance on animal models.”

Yet even as these organoids form intricate neural networks, researchers can hear only fragments of their electrical conversations. Because they are flat and rigid, existing recording technologies cannot conform to the brain’s natural curves and wrinkles. By sampling activity from a mere handful of sites on the organoid, researchers risk missing the coordinated activity that emerges across the entire structure.

“Integrated circuits in consumer electronics are perfectly planar, sitting on wafer-based substrates,” Rogers said. “That conventional layout represents a very significant geometrical mismatch relative to the spherical shapes of these organoids.”

A bioelectronic ‘pop-up book’

To overcome this limitation, the Northwestern team designed a soft, porous scaffold that begins as a flat, rubbery lattice and then transforms into a precisely engineered 3D shape. A controlled mechanical buckling drives the transformation — the same mechanism that causes flat paper to convert into 3D structures in a “pop-up” book.

This framework gently envelopes the organoid, matching its curvature. The mesh-like perforations allow oxygen and nutrients to flow into the organoid and carbon dioxide and waste products to flow out.

“The device’s structure needs to support these metabolic processes to sustain the viability of the tissue,” Rogers said. “Basically, the organoid needs to breathe. The hardware must not significantly constrain or suffocate it.”

One version of the device covered 91% of an organoid’s surface and incorporated 240 individually addressable microelectrodes. Because organoids are often just a millimeter in diameter, the engineers had to push the size of the electrodes to the extreme. They developed highly miniaturized electrodes, measuring just 10 microns in diameter — about the size of an individual cell.

When the team tested systems with only eight or 32 electrodes, they captured limited, localized signals. With the full 240-channel array, the team recorded synchronized oscillatory waves spanning the entire organoid. Because the researchers know each electrode’s exact position, they can create a 3D map of the organoid’s electrical activity.

Shaping and studying living neural systems

In experiments, the team watched signals spark in one region and ripple across the network. By revealing split-second delays between distant areas, the technology picked up clear signs of coordinated communication within the organoid’s neurons.

Beyond mapping neural activity in detail, the platform also proved sensitive to the effects of drugs. The team tested several compounds and observed clear, predictable changes in how the organoids’ networks fired. For example, exposure to 4-aminopyridine — a medication used to improve walking in people with multiple sclerosis — increased neural signaling. 

But exposure to botulinum toxin, which blocks communication between nerve cells and is used to treat muscle spasticity, disrupted coordinated activity. These results show that the bioelectronic interface can detect meaningful drug responses in living human neural tissue models, demonstrating its potential as a powerful tool for testing therapies.

But the system doesn’t just listen — it also speaks. It can deliver tiny electrical pulses, triggering responses in specific regions. When combined with imaging and optogenetics, the system enables scientists to observe and influence neural activity.

The scientists also discovered that the device can shape how organoids grow. By modifying the microlattice design, the team engineered non-spherical geometries, including hexagonal and cubic shapes. Inside those frameworks, the organoids grew into matching shapes.

“With this ability, we can imagine assembling different types of organoids to create miniature versions of the human body,” Rogers said. “With cube-shaped organoids, we could stack them together like Lego blocks.”

What’s next

With more work, organoids could play a powerful role in the future of medicine. Because they are grown from human stem cells — even a patient’s own cells — organoids offer a way to model disease and test treatments in living, 3D neural networks. Researchers also could use them to study how brain disorders develop, evaluate drug responses and assess whether experimental regenerative strategies can restore lost, coordinated brain activity.

With tools that map activity across nearly the entire organoid, scientists can assess whether potential regenerative treatments truly rebuild functional circuits — a critical step toward developing effective therapies for brain disorders.

“As organoids become a growing priority for NIH initiatives and for industry drug development efforts, technologies like this will be essential for turning these sophisticated tissue models into practical platforms for understanding disease, testing therapies and advancing clinical neuroscience,” Franz said.

Funding: The study, “Shape-conformal porous frameworks for full coverage of neural organoids and high-resolution electrophysiology,” was supported by the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, National Institutes of Health (award number R01NS113935), the National Science Foundation, the Belle Carnell Regenerative Neurorehabilitation Fund, the New Cornerstone Science Foundation and the Haythornthwaite Foundation Research Initiation Grant.

Key Questions Answered:

Q: Are these “mini-brains” actually thinking?

A: They aren’t conscious, but they do generate synchronized electrical pulses similar to those seen in the early stages of human brain development. This new mesh allows us to finally “hear” the full complexity of those pulses for the first time.

Q: Why do we need to grow these organoids into cubes?

A: Standard organoids are spherical, which makes them hard to connect. By growing them into cubes using the mesh scaffold, scientists can imagine stacking them like LEGO blocks to create complex, multi-layered models of the human nervous system.

Q: How does this help patients with brain diseases?

A: Because these organoids can be grown from a specific patient’s stem cells, doctors can use the electronic mesh to test how that patient’s actual brain tissue responds to different medications—all in a lab dish before a single pill is prescribed.

About this neurotech research news

Author: Amanda Morris
Source: Northwestern University
Contact: Amanda Morris – Northwestern University
Image: The image is credited to John A. Rogers/Northwestern University

Original Research: Open access.
“Shape-conformal porous frameworks for full coverage of neural organoids and high-resolution electrophysiology” by Naijia Liu, Shahrzad Shiravi, Tianqi Jin, Jiaqi Liu, Zhengguang Zhu, Jiying Li, Ingrid Cheung, Haohui Zhang, Yue Wang, Qingyuan Li, Zijie Xu, Liangsong Zeng, Maria Jose Quezada, Andres Villalobos, Yasaman Samei, Shreyaa Khanna, Shuozhen Bao, Mingzheng Wu, Sida Liang, Xu Cheng, Zengyao Lv, Woo-Youl Maeng, Yamin Zhang, Haiwen Luan, Stephen A. Boppart, Yonggang Huang, Yihui Zhang, Colin K. Franz, John D. Finan & John A. Rogers. Nature Biomedical Engineering
DOI:10.1038/s41551-026-01620-y