A silicon carbide array for electrocorticography and peripheral nerve recording
A silicon carbide array for electrocorticography and peripheral nerve recording
复制标题
DOI：
10.1088/1741-2552/aa7698
复制
发表时间：
2017-10-01
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
Maharbiz, M. M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Diaz-Botia, C. A.;Luna, L. E.;Maharbiz, M. M.
目标。目前的神经探针设备寿命有限，只有几年。它们的常见失效模式是绝缘膜的退化和/或导体-绝缘体界面的分层。我们试图开发一种不受此类限制的技术，并适用于具有很长设备寿命的慢性应用。的方法。我们开发了一种集成多晶导电碳化硅和绝缘碳化硅的制造方法。该技术采用非晶碳化硅作为绝缘体，并在记录位置使用导电碳化硅，从而在同一材料的掺杂区域和非晶区域之间实现无缝过渡，消除了容易分层的非均质界面。碳化硅具有优异的化学稳定性，具有生物相容性，是一种优秀的分子屏障，与标准的微加工工艺兼容。主要的结果。我们已经用我们新颖的制造方法制造了碳化硅电极阵列。我们进行了活体实验，获得了大鼠初级视觉皮层的皮质电图记录，其质量与基于聚合物的皮质电图阵列的记录质量相似。碳化硅电极阵列也被用作包裹在大鼠坐骨神经周围的袖带电极，记录神经对电刺激的反应。最后，我们通过加速老化试验证明了我们的绝缘碳化硅薄膜具有出色的长期稳定性。的意义。神经工程的临床翻译已经放缓，部分原因是由于目前探针的长期性能不佳。碳化硅器件是一项很有前途的技术，可以通过实现真正的长期应用来加速这种转变。
Objective. Current neural probes have a limited device lifetime of a few years. Their common failure mode is the degradation of insulating films and/or the delamination of the conductor-insulator interfaces. We sought to develop a technology that does not suffer from such limitations and would be suitable for chronic applications with very long device lifetimes. Approach. We developed a fabrication method that integrates polycrystalline conductive silicon carbide with insulating silicon carbide. The technology employs amorphous silicon carbide as the insulator and conductive silicon carbide at the recording sites, resulting in a seamless transition between doped and amorphous regions of the same material, eliminating heterogeneous interfaces prone to delamination. Silicon carbide has outstanding chemical stability, is biocompatible, is an excellent molecular barrier and is compatible with standard microfabrication processes. Main results. We have fabricated silicon carbide electrode arrays using our novel fabrication method. We conducted in vivo experiments in which electrocorticography recordings from the primary visual cortex of a rat were obtained and were of similar quality to those of polymer based electrocorticography arrays. The silicon carbide electrode arrays were also used as a cuff electrode wrapped around the sciatic nerve of a rat to record the nerve response to electrical stimulation. Finally, we demonstrated the outstanding long term stability of our insulating silicon carbide films through accelerated aging tests. Significance. Clinical translation in neural engineering has been slowed in part due to the poor long term performance of current probes. Silicon carbide devices are a promising technology that may accelerate this transition by enabling truly chronic applications.