Researchers working with Professor Tom Webster have shown that extremely thin carbon fibers called "nanotubes" might be a better material to use to create brain probes and implants to study and treat neurological damage and disorders.

Current probes are made of silicon, which eventually cause the body to produce scar tissue, preventing the devices from making good electrical contact with neurons. Nanotubes not only cause less scar tissue, but also stimulate neuronal growth by 60%. The nanotubes were designed to have a surface containing nanometer-size bumps, a feature that more closely mimics the natural surfaces of proteins and tissues. Silicon probes do not contain these surface features, so the body views them as foreign material.

"We decided to use nanotubes for neural prostheses due to their exceptional electrical properties," says Professor Webster in an article for NanoBiotech News (www.nanobiotechnews.com). "Neural probes need good electrical properties since the brain is electrically active. But when damage occurs in the brain, usually electrical conductivity shuts down in that area."

Additional information on Professor Webster's nanotubes research can be found in the January issue of Nanotechnology, the January 24th issue of Science News, and NanoBiotech News.