MIT PhD Camille Cunin Develops 2-Layer Soft Transistors to Amplify Body Signals

2 articles · Updated · MIT News · May 12

Camille Cunin completed her MIT PhD in February after developing organic transistors built from polymer-metal composites that amplify weak biological signals in soft electronic devices.
The design targets two core hurdles in bioelectronics: converting ion-based body signals into electronic ones and doing so with flexible materials that can operate in soft, hydrated tissue.
Her multilayer architecture—alternating thin metal and porous elastomer layers—lets charges move through stretchable stacks while microcracks and strong adhesion preserve conductivity and flexibility.
The work grew from a 2019 Massachusetts General Hospital internship, where a Parkinson’s patient struggled to swallow a tethered gut probe, underscoring the gap between lab prototypes and usable devices.
Cunin has since joined a Boston-area startup developing implantable soft brain electrodes, extending the same translational focus toward future diagnostics and therapies.

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