Actively Deployable Balloon Electrodes with High Omnidirectional Stretchability for Enhanced Interfacing with Luminal Organs

Abstract Luminal organs such as the gastrointestinal tract, auditory canal, and urogenital tract exhibit complex, folded, and dynamic architectures, presenting significant challenges for stable and conformal electrophysiological monitoring. Conventional soft electrodes, while effective on flat surfaces, often fail to adapt to the deep‐seated, narrow, and irregular environments of endoluminal tissues. Here, a balloon electrode incorporating a semi‐embedded Ag–Au core–shell nanowire (Ag@AuNW) composite is developed to enable active and reversible interfacing with endoluminal tissues of various sizes. The Ag@AuNW composite is fabricated using tape‐assisted masking and vacuum filtration, followed by partial embedding in elastomer to form a percolated conductive network with high conductivity, mechanical durability, chemical stability, and omnidirectional stretchability (600% area strain). When integrated onto a catheter, the balloon electrode undergoes a reversible tubular‐to‐balloon transformation during inflation, actively expanding to conform to folded tissue surfaces and reduce interfacial impedance. It maintains stable electro‐mechanical performance over 1000 inflation‐deflation cycles. For proof‐of‐concept, the device is deployed into human ear canals and rabbit vaginas, where it achieves conformal adaptation and enables the acquisition of high‐quality electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) signals, outperforming conventional electrodes. These results highlight the potential of an omnidirectionally stretchable balloon electrode for minimally invasive, high‐fidelity electrophysiological monitoring within complex luminal organs.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2025-11-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202523274
Primary Topic
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Actively Deployable Balloon Electrodes with High Omnidirectional Stretchability for Enhanced Interfacing with Luminal Organs

Fei Han, Qiong Tian, Bingluo Gu, Mei Yu et al.
Advanced Functional Materials
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
article

Actively Deployable Balloon Electrodes with High Omnidirectional Stretchability for Enhanced Interfacing with Luminal Organs

Fei Han, Qiong Tian, Bingluo Gu, Mei Yu, Haoshi Zhang, Jianping Huang, Yang Zhao, H. S. Zhao, Hanfei Li, Qianhengyuan Yu, Guangfa Xiang, Zhiyuan Liu, Chenyang Li, Guanglin Li, Qingsong Li, Huan Yu, Jing Sun, Zijian Yang, Wen Hou
article en

Abstract

Abstract Luminal organs such as the gastrointestinal tract, auditory canal, and urogenital tract exhibit complex, folded, and dynamic architectures, presenting significant challenges for stable and conformal electrophysiological monitoring. Conventional soft electrodes, while effective on flat surfaces, often fail to adapt to the deep‐seated, narrow, and irregular environments of endoluminal tissues. Here, a balloon electrode incorporating a semi‐embedded Ag–Au core–shell nanowire (Ag@AuNW) composite is developed to enable active and reversible interfacing with endoluminal tissues of various sizes. The Ag@AuNW composite is fabricated using tape‐assisted masking and vacuum filtration, followed by partial embedding in elastomer to form a percolated conductive network with high conductivity, mechanical durability, chemical stability, and omnidirectional stretchability (600% area strain). When integrated onto a catheter, the balloon electrode undergoes a reversible tubular‐to‐balloon transformation during inflation, actively expanding to conform to folded tissue surfaces and reduce interfacial impedance. It maintains stable electro‐mechanical performance over 1000 inflation‐deflation cycles. For proof‐of‐concept, the device is deployed into human ear canals and rabbit vaginas, where it achieves conformal adaptation and enables the acquisition of high‐quality electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) signals, outperforming conventional electrodes. These results highlight the potential of an omnidirectionally stretchable balloon electrode for minimally invasive, high‐fidelity electrophysiological monitoring within complex luminal organs.

Advanced Functional MaterialsVol. 36(24)
Southern University of Science and Technology (CN), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 67%
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.