Tissue-engineered electronic peripheral nerve interface

1. A tissue-engineered electronic peripheral nerve interface (TEENI) device comprising:

a biomaterial support member having a length;

at least one thread set comprising a plurality of thread set arms having a plurality of electronic leads running through the thread set arms, the thread set arms being fully encapsulated within the biomaterial support member; and

a plurality of electrodes fixed to the thread set arms,

wherein when the TEENI device is sutured into a subject in need thereof, the plurality of thread set arms are configured to be positioned at least partially within a transected nerve.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the TEENI device is configured to:

regenerate the transected nerve to form a regenerated nerve,

detect and record neural activity in the regenerated nerve, and

stimulate the regenerated nerve.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the biomaterial support member comprises a hydrogel-based scaffold.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the biomaterial support member comprises a plurality of magnetically templated aligned microchannels such that a portion of the microchannels, a network of interconnected microchannels, or a combination thereof extend along the length of the biomaterial support member.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of thread set arms comprises a dielectric barrier material.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of thread set arms comprises a width from about 1 μm to about 1000 μm and a thickness from about 1 μm to about 100 μm.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein when the TEENI device is sutured into a subject in need thereof, the plurality of thread set arms are evenly distributed through a volume of the transected nerve equal to a transected nerve diameter multiplied by a distance between one or more nodes of Ranvier.

8. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a sheath enveloping the biomaterial support member.

9. A system for supporting a transected nerve, the system comprising:

a tissue-engineered electronic peripheral nerve interface (TEENT) device, the TEENI device comprising:

a biomaterial support member;

a thread set comprising a plurality of thread set arms having a plurality of electronic leads running through the thread set arms, the thread set arms being fully encapsulated within the biomaterial support member; and

a plurality of electrodes fixed to the plurality of thread set arms,

wherein when the TEENI device is sutured into a subject in need thereof, the plurality of thread set arms are configured to be positioned at least partially within the transected nerve:

a control element comprising processing circuitry configured to:

detect neural activity as a signal in a regenerated nerve,

amplify the signal,

record the neural activity in the regenerated nerve, and

stimulate the regenerated nerve;

a connecting element comprising a plurality of suture holes and a plurality of connecting element electronic leads connected to the TEENI device and extending to the control element; and

a downstream element configured to communicate with the transected nerve via the control element.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the TEENI device is configured to regenerate the transected nerve to form the regenerated nerve.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the control element comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) or a flexible printed circuit (FPC).

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the transected nerve comprises a proximal nerve, and the downstream element comprises a distal nerve.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the TEENI device is configured to be inserted between the proximal nerve and the distal nerve.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the transected nerve comprises a proximal nerve, and the downstream element comprises a prosthetic device.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the TEENI device is configured to be sutured to the proximal nerve and extend to the connecting element.