MULTICHANNEL SENSORS FOR NEUROSCIENCES

该技术开发计划的目标是为神经科学提供制造和开发多通道电压和化学传感器系统的资源。其目的是为了满足利用美国阿肯色州高密度电子中心最近在S.Ang博士的指导下开发的新微电路制造技术的需求。该计划将同时实现四个主要目标。第一个目标是制造新一代小型硅基多位点微探针，该探针具有专门用于电压或电化学传感或两者兼有的位点。传感器站点特性的评估和研究将由I Fritsch博士(阿肯色州大学)、D.Woodward博士(维克森林大学)和R.M.Wightman博士(北卡罗来纳州大学)进行。第二个目标是将硅探头集成到柔性聚酰亚胺电缆系统中。这种材料的制造和涂层的新技术将被应用于体内神经科学应用。第三个目标是设计和制造多通道VLSI微芯片前端器件，以放大和传输来自电压和电化学传感器位置的信息。芯片设计将包括通过电压传感器位置进行微刺激或在电化学位置施加极化电压的能力。已经在进行中的原型设计将进一步开发。VLSI微电路将被集成到探头设计中，以实现更高的密度集成。随着基本模块的完善，将开发多探头配置。将开发一种集成了数字信号处理器的无线传输系统，将多路信息数字化并以高速率传输到主机。将进一步开发具有Windows NT操作系统的双处理器主机PC工作站，并对软件进行改进，以管理多通道数据流和分析。将继续并扩大对学生的教育和对用户的培训。正如以前所做的那样，将发展与小企业的互动，以传播技术开发的效用。该项目将为包括NIDA、NIA、NIAAA、NINDS和NIMH在内的许多NIH研究所正在进行的神经科学研究和治疗需求提供关键技术。

The goal of this technology development program is to create a resource for fabrication and development of multichannel voltage and chemical sensor systems for the Neurosciences. The aim is to address the need to take advantage of new microcircuit fabrication techniques that have been recently developed within the Center for High Density Electronics at the U. Arkansas under direction of Dr. S. Ang. The plan is to work on four major aims in parallel. The first aim is to fabricate a new generation of small silicon-based multisite microprobes with sites specialized for either or both voltage or electrochemical sensing. Evaluation and study of sensor site properties will be conducted by Drs. I Fritsch (U. Ark.), D. Woodward (Wake Forest U.), and R.M. Wightman (U.N. Carolina). A second aim is to integrate the silicon probe into flexible polyimide cable system. New technologies for fabrication and coating of such materials will be adapted for in vivo Neuroscience applications. A third aim is to design and fabricate multichannel VLSI microchip headstage devices to amplify and transmit information from the voltage and electrochemcal sensor sites. The chip design will include the capacity to microstimulate through the voltage sensor sites or to apply polarization voltages at the electrochemical sites. Prototype designs already in progress will be developed further. The VLSI microcircuit will be integrated into the probe design to achieve higher desensity integration. A multiple probe configuration will be developed as the basic module is perfected. A wireless transmission system with an integrated DSP will be developed to digitize and transmit multichannel information at high rates to a host computer. A dual processor host PC workstation with the Windows NT Operating System will be further developed with software enhancements to manage the multichannel data flow and analysis. Education of students and training of users will be continued and expanded. As has been done previously, interactions with small businesses will be developed to disseminate utility of the technology development. This project will provide technology critical for ongoing research and therapeutic needs in Neuroscience of many NIH Institutes, including NIDA, NIA, NIAAA, NINDS, and NIMH.