Stretchable Multilevel Mesh Brain Electrodes for Neuroplasticity in Glioma Patients Undergoing Surgery.

Abstract

Brain disease surgical treatment usually leads to neurological dysfunction. Electroencephalogram (EEG)-based neuroplasticity study may facilitate patient nerve function recovery from injury, allowing a return to normal activities. Due to the limitations of wound infections and hair barrier effects, a traditional brain-computer interface system is not applicable to patients after tumor resection. Here, stretchable multilevel mesh brain electrodes with reconfigurable interfaces are developed. The electrode has a multilevel mesh and malleable structure to avoid hair blockage between the electrode and scalp, realizing the conformal attachment of the stretchable multilevel mesh brain electrodes to a nondevelopable curved brain surface. Moreover, the thermally reversible hydrogel forms a good reconfigurable interface contact between the electrode and scalp, reducing postoperative infection and secondary injury risks to ensure the high-quality acquisition EEGs. In this study, a newly invented stretchable multilevel mesh brain electrodes is applied to test the preoperative and postoperative EEGs of recurrent glioblastoma patients for the first time. The obvious inhibitory effects of tumors on brain activity (a-wave signals) are discovered. More importantly, the EEG signals gradually enhance with postoperative recovery, which is mutually confirmed with the Karnofsky score results, showing the possibility of neural function remodeling neurological rehabilitation in adults.