Achievement

IGERT trainee Nic Tokas of the Hynd group at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at SUNY Albany has collaborated with Dr. Ji Ung Lee of CNSE for the synthesis of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes ( CNTs) as well as with Karen Smith of The Wadsworth Center for in vivo implantation of CNT-based electrodes. He has characterized LRM55 astroglial and B35 neuronal cells as a model system for the brain upon CNT exposure, while determining cell viability, cell proliferation, glutathione levels, metabolic activity, mitochondria activity, singlet oxygen activity, as well as gene expression. Implantation in vivo into the rat brain with vertically aligned CNT neural prosthetics has been used to investigate the immune biological response. The aim of this research is to optimize intraparenchymal implantation and electrocorticography in re-establishing lost function to paralysis patients.