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Occlusion-activated autonomous piezoelectric implants for adaptive prevention of peri-implantitis

  • Annan Chen (Co-first Author)
  • , Ke Li (Co-first Author)
  • , Yinjin Li
  • , Che Fan
  • , Zhiyao Zhang
  • , Yuanchao Liu
  • , Jin Su
  • , Yunsong Shi
  • , Huachen Cui
  • , Kai Liu
  • , Yusheng Shi*
  • , Zhen Zhang*
  • , Chunze Yan*
  • , Jian Lu*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

Abstract

More than one-third of the global population suffers from dental defects, with osseointegrated implants being the gold-standard intervention; yet, their long-term functional performance is hindered by peri-implantitis. Here, we present an autonomous piezoelectric implant that delivers adaptive antibacterial and anti-inflammatory functionalities through physiological occlusal activation without any external intervention. The implant demonstrates good functional durability, sustaining consistent bioelectric outputs through over 1,000,000 loading-unloading cycles and exhibiting stable electrical performance in simulated physiological environments for over 30 days. Besides, integration with machine learning enables reliable, patient-specific prediction and real-time modulation of occlusal mechano-adaptive voltage responses. The autonomous implant achieves tri-modal therapeutic integration: (ⅰ) electrocatalytic bactericidal activity via controlled reactive oxygen species generation, (ⅱ) electrically induced immunomodulation of macrophages from pro- to anti-inflammatory phenotypes, and (ⅲ) electrostimulation-enhanced osteogenesis surpassing conventional titanium alloys, both in vitro and in vivo. These findings provide insights for occlusion-activated effective peri-implantitis intervention and a widely applicable strategy for developing autonomous and adaptable bioelectronic platforms. © The Author(s) 2026.
Original languageEnglish
Article number5017
Number of pages15
JournalNature Communications
Volume17
Online published9 Apr 2026
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2026

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (JCYJ20220818101204010, J.L.), the RGC General Research Fund (No. AoE/M-402/20, J.L.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52205363, A.C.; 12302157, H.C.; and 52235008, C.Y.), the Program for Innovative Research Team of the Ministry of Education (IRT1244, C.Y.), the Key Research and Development Program of Hubei Province (2025BCB003, Z.Z.), the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province of China (2024AFB918, J.S.), and the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission via the Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center. The authors thank the technical support from the Experiment Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Technology in the School of Mechanical Science &Engineering of HUST. The authors would also like to thank Professor Liam Grover at the University of Birmingham for his kind assistance with language polishing and terminology refinement, which helped improve the overall quality of the manuscript.

Publisher's Copyright Statement

  • This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

RGC Funding Information

  • RGC-funded

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