Foreign Body Reaction to Implantable Devices

Jan 21, 2026 · 1 min read

Overview

The foreign body reaction (FBR) represents a major challenge to long-term neural implant function. When biomedical devices are implanted, the immune system initiates a cascade of cellular responses that ultimately encapsulate the device in fibrotic tissue. This scar tissue physically isolates electrodes from target neurons, degrading signal quality and eventually causing device failure. Our research focuses on understanding and preventing these chronic inflammatory processes to enable lifelong neural interface functionality.

Foreign Body Reaction Cascade

Carnicer-Lombarte A, Chen S-T, Malliaras GG and Barone DG (2021) Foreign Body Reaction to Implanted Biomaterials and Its Impact in Nerve Neuroprosthetics. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 9:622524. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2021.622524

D.G. Barone, A. Carnicer-Lombarte, P. Tourlomousis, R.S. Hamilton, M. Prater, A.L. Rutz, I.B. Dimov, G.G. Malliaras, S.P. Lacour, A.A.B. Robertson, K. Franze, J.W. Fawcett, & C.E. Bryant, Prevention of the foreign body response to implantable medical devices by inflammasome inhibition, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 119 (12) e2115857119, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115857119 (2022).

Foreign Body Reaction Inflammasome Biocompatibility Neural Implants