Multi-Scale Modeling of a 3D Soft Magnetoelectric Patch for Wireless Nerve Stimulation

Magnetoelectric nanoparticles (MENPs) are able to locally generate high electric fields when activated with human-safe, low-intensity magnetic fields. However, when implanted as individual or randomly positioned small clusters, the induced electric fields decay very quickly with the distance, hampering effective tissue stimulation. Herein, a novel nano-structured polymeric-based MENPs-loaded 3D system (ME-Patch) is designed and optimized in terms of its electrical performances through a holistic and multi-scale in silico framework, which spans from the multi-physics modeling of the magnetoelectric phenomenon at the nanoscale to a functional assessment of the micrometric ME-Patch stimulation ability in a realistic model of a human peripheral nerve. This study presents the theoretical applicability of a material-based recipe for the fabrication of effective soft and biocompatible magnetoelectric devices, able to store and transfer the extremely localized effect of individual MENPs on tissue areas and trigger neuron action potential activation.