Flexible neural probe arrays for large-scale cortical and subcortical recording

植入式神经电极已经发展了几十年，但记录 可分辨的神经元活动经常随时间减少或完全丧失。这是真的，不管 在动物中记录寿命为几个月到最多几年的物种;尽管选择神经探针 已在人体中成功实施，记录寿命短（<5年）。克服 当今植入技术的局限性可能会彻底改变未来神经假体的设计 平台，这反过来将对多发性神经系统疾病的医疗产生深远的影响。 使用脑机接口的疾病。 该提案的目标是实现长时间的大规模记录。实现 稳定的，长期的神经元接口，我们将使用多管齐下的方法，包括聚合物的创新 微加工和集成和封装以及固体力学原理的应用， 梁理论多层聚合物微加工将使单个聚合物的两侧具有高电极密度。 具有最小的布线面积的柄。多个柄将通过背板连接， 已与嵌入式应用建立电连接的带状电缆 专用集成电路（ASIC）芯片。该芯片包含提供信号放大的电路， 多路复用;后者将大大减少外部导线连接的数量，从而减少占用空间 整个植入物所需的。通过利用柄部的刚度随着长度减小而增加 和可生物降解的聚合物，裸探针和探针阵列的深度植入将实现， 使用现有的加强件的方法使横截面直径增加了几个数量级。 合作团队由生物医学工程师组成，他们在微制造方面具有特定的专业知识， 植入式系统，电路专家和生物医学工程师，在神经工程的专业知识， 海马假体我们将共同开发探针阵列技术，实现 微电子电路此外，新的探针阵列系统将在大鼠中进行演示， 海马中的电生理记录并与金标准的性能进行比较 微线阵列植入物。这些研究将通过组织学分析进行补充。

Implantable neural electrodes have enjoyed decades of development but the ability to record resolvable neuronal activities is often reduced or completely lost over time. This is true regardless of species with recording lifetimes of months to at best a few years in animal; although select neural probes have been successfully implemented in human, the recording lifetimes are short (<5 years). Overcoming the limitations of today’s implant technologies could revolutionize the design of future neural prosthetic platforms, which in turn, would have a profound impact on the medical treatment of multiple neurological disorders using brain-machine interfaces. The goal of this proposal is to achieve large scale recordings over long periods of time. To achieve a stable, long-term neuronal interface, we will use a multi-pronged approach involving innovation in polymer micromachining and integration and packaging and the application of principles of solid mechanics and beam theory. Multi-level polymer micromachining will enable high electrode density on both sides of single shanks with minimal area dedicated to wiring. Multiple shanks will be connected by a backplane consisting of a ribbon cable into which electrical connectivity has been established with an embedded application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip. The chip contains circuits that provide signal amplification and multiplexing; the latter will greatly reduce the number of external wire connections and thus the footprint required for the overall implant. By leveraging the increase in stiffness of a shank as length decreases and biodegradable polymers, deep implantation of bare probes and probe arrays will be realized without the use of existing stiffener approaches that increase the cross sectional diameter by orders of magnitude. The collaborative team consists of biomedical engineer with specific expertise in microfabrication of implantable systems, a circuit expert, and a biomedical engineer with expertise in neural engineering of hippocampal prostheses. Together, we will develop the probe array technology and achieve integration of microelectronic circuits. In addition, the new probe array system will be demonstrated in rat to collect electrophysiological recordings in the hippocampus and compared to the performance of gold standard microwire array implants. These studies will be complemented by histological analysis.