A soft bioelectronic system with a responsive hydrogel neural interface for direct force quantification and real-time intraoperative craniocerebral injury monitoring.

A soft neural interface bioelectronic system (SNIBS) enables real-time intraoperative monitoring of craniocerebral injury, with contact pressure above 80 kPa linked to irreversible damage.

• Why it matters: Craniotomies involve instrument forces that can injure brain tissue, yet there is no direct quantitative way to monitor craniocerebral injury during neurosurgery.
• What they did: The SNIBS uses thermally triggered swelling/deswelling hydrogel microspheres to integrate with cortex for high-fidelity recording of contact pressure, somatosensory evoked potentials, electrocorticography, and temperature.
• The result: In rabbit brain tumour excision models, SNIBS reveals a correlation between pressure and somatosensory evoked potential changes, and Evans blue staining plus MRI confirm irreversible injury at pressures >80 kPa.

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