Training events and courses
CALIT
Jean DELBEKE || 28 October || Visionary Symposium on Nano-Bio-Cogno
Electrode implantation as an event in the dynamics of biological stability
Jean Delbeke, MD, PhD Department of Physiology & Pharmacology Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
Abstract
Living tissue represents a dynamic world where continuous energy exchanges are necessary in order to maintain equilibrium. The different specialised components of an organism collaborate as a most intricate network in the struggle for survival. Based on these two principles, biocompatibility must be seen as a perturbation leading to reactions that can only be apprehended when considering time as an essential parameter. Nature can react by destruction (elimination), sequestration or integration of the implanted device. Instead of fighting the destruction or the integration of an implanted device, we should seek the best possible integration. The integration should be looked at in two directions: adaptation of the living tissue to the implant and vice versa. Such an endeavour, however, requires in-depth knowledge of the biological mechanisms involved and it is obvious that today, only very limited data is available. Most of the work in this area still aims at defining safe limits for chemical, electrical, electro-chemical, thermal, mechanical and metabolic perturbations. We should now look at the detailed biologic cascades triggered by these energetic events. The understanding we seek is of course at the level of cellular biology but also at the level of system physiology, neural encoding and brain plasticity. Finally, the global context in which an implant and especially a neural implant is likely to work is bound to change as a result of the actions of the implant itself, as a result of an evolving disease or as a consequence of ageing. A broad holistic view is thus necessary.