A new technique that can 'tattoo' living cells and tissues with flexible arrays of gold nanodots and nanowires is paving the way for the integration of smart devices directly into human tissue, a cyborg-like scenario that until now has only been the stuff of science fiction. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University developed the technology, which allows for the placement of optical elements or electronics on live cells using tattoo-like arrays, they said.

一种能够用灵活的金纳米点和纳米线阵列“纹身”活细胞和组织的新技术正在为将智能设备直接整合到人体组织铺平道路，这是一种类似cyborg的场景，到目前为止只是科幻小说。他们说，约翰霍普金斯大学的研究人员开发了这项技术，可以使用纹身状阵列在活细胞上放置光学元件或电子元件。

The 'electronic tattoos' stick on cells in a flexible way that conforms to their wet and fluid exterior structure..

“电子纹身”以灵活的方式粘附在细胞上，符合其潮湿和流动的外部结构。。

The solution could one day be used for remote monitoring and controlling of individual cells within the human body, a futuristic biomedical scenario that can preemptively identify and treat medical conditions, said David Gracias, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University who led the researchers..

约翰霍普金斯大学化学与生物分子工程教授David Gracias说，该解决方案有朝一日可用于人体内单个细胞的远程监测和控制，这是一种未来的生物医学方案，可以先发制人地识别和治疗医疗状况。领导研究人员。。

'If we had technologies to track the health of isolated cells, we could maybe diagnose and treat diseases much earlier and not wait until the entire organ is damaged,' he said in a post on the Hub.

他在中心的一个帖子中说：“如果我们有技术来追踪分离细胞的健康状况，我们也许可以更早地诊断和治疗疾病，而不是等到整个器官受损。

Single-Cell Technology for Electronic Tattoos

电子纹身的单细胞技术

The technology advances previous work that used hydrogels to stick nanotechnology onto human skin and internal animal organs. Now that researchers have demonstrated how to adhere nanowires and nanodots onto single cells, scientists have a pathway to developing optical sensors and electronics compatible with biological matter at the cellular level, they said..

该技术推进了以前使用水凝胶将纳米技术粘附到人体皮肤和内部动物器官上的工作。他们说，现在研究人员已经证明了如何将纳米线和纳米点粘附到单细胞上，科学家们有了在细胞水平上开发与生物物质相容的光学传感器和电子设备的途径。。

'We're talking about putting something like an electronic tattoo on a living object tens of times smaller than the head of a pin,' Gracias said. 'It's the first step toward attaching sensors and electronics on live cells.'

“我们正在谈论将类似电子纹身的东西放在比针头小几十倍的活体上，”格拉西亚斯说这是将传感器和电子设备连接到活细胞上的第一步

For the work, Gracias and his colleagues set out to develop a nontoxic, high-resolution, lithographic method to attach nanomaterials to living tissue and cells. They used gold—a material that is known for preventing signal loss or distortion—to build the tattoo arrays, attaching them to cells called fibroblasts that make and sustain tissue in the human body..

对于这项工作，Gracias和他的同事们着手开发一种无毒，高分辨率的光刻方法，将纳米材料附着在活组织和细胞上。他们使用金-一种众所周知的防止信号丢失或失真的材料来构建纹身阵列，将它们附着在称为成纤维细胞的细胞上，这些细胞可以制造和维持人体组织。。

Development and Application

开发和应用

Specifically, the team used nanoimprint lithography to print a pattern of nanoscale gold lines or dots on a polymer-coated silicon wafer. They then dissolved the polymer to liberate the gold nanoarray so it could be transferred to a thin piece of glass.

具体而言，该团队使用纳米压印光刻技术在聚合物涂覆的硅晶片上印刷纳米级金线或点的图案。然后他们溶解聚合物以释放金纳米阵列，以便将其转移到薄玻璃上。

Next, the researchers functionalized the gold with cysteamine and covered it with a hydrogel layer, which, when peeled away, removed the array from the glass. The patterned side of the flexible array was coated with gelatin and attached to individual live fibroblast cells using an alginate hydrogel film, a gel-like laminate that can be dissolved after the adherence of the gold to the cell..

接下来，研究人员用半胱胺将金功能化并用水凝胶层覆盖，当剥离时，水凝胶层从玻璃上除去阵列。柔性阵列的图案化侧涂有明胶，并使用藻酸盐水凝胶膜（一种凝胶状层压板）附着于单个活成纤维细胞，所述凝胶状层压板可在金粘附于细胞后溶解。。

In the final step, the team degraded the hydrogel to expose the gold pattern on the surface of the cells. The researchers used similar techniques to apply gold nanoarrays to sheets of fibroblasts or to rat brains. Experiments showed that the arrays were biocompatible and could guide cell orientation and migration, they said.

在最后一步中，团队降解水凝胶以暴露细胞表面上的金图案。研究人员使用类似的技术将金纳米阵列应用于成纤维细胞片或大鼠脑。他们说，实验表明，这些阵列具有生物相容性，可以指导细胞定向和迁移。

Further the structures were able to stick to soft cells for 16 hours even as the cells moved..

此外，即使细胞移动，结构也能够粘附在软细胞上16小时。。

The researchers published a paper on their work in the journal, Nano Letters. Their approach, which is cost-effective, also can be used to attach other nanoscale components, such as electrodes, antennas and circuits, to hydrogels or living organisms, they said.

研究人员在“纳米快报”杂志上发表了一篇关于他们工作的论文。他们说，他们的方法具有成本效益，也可用于将其他纳米级组件（如电极，天线和电路）连接到水凝胶或生物体。

In future research, the team aims to attach onto cells more complex nanocircuits that can stay in place for longer periods of time. The researchers also want to experiment with different types of cells, they said.

在未来的研究中，该团队的目标是将更复杂的纳米电路附着在细胞上，这些纳米电路可以长时间保持原位。他们说，研究人员还想试验不同类型的细胞。