Collaborative Research: BRAIN EAGER: Stretchable graphene transistors for high signal, high channel count neural recording

该奖项由生物科学理事会（BIO）的生物研究仪器开发计划（IDBR）和新兴前沿（EF）两个项目联合颁发。扩大我们对大脑知识的一个关键障碍是，现有的探测大脑功能的工具根本无法胜任这项艰巨的任务。记录神经信号的技术最多只能记录数十或数百个神经元的信号，而需要记录数千甚至数百万个神经元的信号。为了应对这一挑战，需要改进类型的传感器，以更高的信号质量记录神经活动，并且比目前的方法更适合并行记录。该合作项目将开发一种基于柔性石墨烯晶体管的新型传感器。石墨烯是一种原子级薄的碳原子薄片，具有理想的物理、化学和电学特性，可以与生物系统相结合。然而，石墨烯晶体管用于单神经元传感在很大程度上还未被探索。尚未解决的问题包括神经元和石墨烯之间接触的性质，电信号的最终强度，以及石墨烯电极在大脑中的长期生物相容性。我们提出的工作将解决这些基本问题。如果成功，这个项目最终将带来社会效益，比如更好的神经假肢和神经疾病的新疗法。纳米和神经科学交叉领域的培训机会，这是美国需要的一个关键领域？美国的技术未来，将适用于研究生。石墨烯可以通过借用日本纸艺术kirigami的技术，被纳米制造成一排符合要求的、可拉伸的晶体管。该研究小组先前的工作表明，与传统的电子设备不同，这种石墨烯晶体管既非常灵活，又可以在不降低其电性能的情况下拉伸100%。目前的项目将研究kirigami石墨烯与单个神经元之间的电和机械相互作用。石墨烯将被切割成不同的图案，以优化石墨烯与单个神经元之间的机械接触。石墨烯在神经元上的包裹将被最大化，石墨烯将被用于测量单个神经元产生的电压峰值，无论是在体外还是在体内。通过优化石墨烯与神经元之间的共形接触，可以测量大部分细胞内电位（~ 70 mV）。石墨烯的半导体特性也将用于将生物电子信号放大到鲁棒水平，以促进对数千个神经元信号的多路检测。

This award is jointly made by two programs the Instrument Development for Biological Research program (IDBR) and Emerging Frontiers (EF) in the Directorate of Biological Sciences (BIO).A key roadblock to expanding our knowledge of the brain is that existing tools to probe its function are simply not up to the enormity of the task. Techniques for recording neural signals allow at most signals from tens or hundreds of neurons to be recorded, when thousands or even millions are needed. To address this challenge, improved types of sensors are required that record neural activity with greater signal quality and are more suited to parallel recording than current approaches. This collaborative project will develop a new type of sensor based on flexible graphene transistors. Graphene is an atomically thin sheet of carbon atoms that exhibits desirable physical, chemical, and electrical properties for interfacing with biological systems. However, the use of graphene transistors for single neuron sensing is largely unexplored. Open questions include the nature of the contact between the neuron and the graphene, the ultimate strength of electrical signals, and the long-term biocompatibility of graphene-based electrodes in the brain. Our proposed work will address these fundamental questions. If successful, this project will ultimately lead to societal benefits such as better neural prosthetics and new treatments for neurological disorders. Training opportunities at the interface of nano- and neuroscience, a key area of need for America?s technological future, will be available for graduate students.Graphene can be nanofabricated into arrays of conformable, stretchable transistors using techniques borrowed from the Japanese paper art of kirigami. Prior work of this research team has shown that unlike traditional electronic devices, such graphene transistors are both extremely flexible and can stretch by 100% without degrading their electrical properties. The current project will investigate the electrical and mechanical interactions between kirigami graphene and individual neurons. Graphene will be cut into different patterns to optimize the mechanical contact between graphene and single neurons. Wrapping of graphene on the neuron will be maximized and the graphene will be used to measure voltage spikes produced by individual neurons, both in vitro and in vivo. With optimized conformal contact between graphene and neurons it will be possible to measure a large fraction of the intracellular potential (~ 70 mV). The semiconducting properties of graphene will also be used to amplify the bioelectronic signals to robust levels to facilitate multiplexed detection of thousands of neuron signals.