Electrode Arrays for Neurodynamic Studies

本研究的主要目的是设计和实现一组集成了低功耗电子和遥测技术的传感和刺激电极，以研究完整和行为正常的动物的神经系统动力学。将使用一种能够记录和刺激神经系统多个部位的微创植入式电极阵列。神经系统的动力学（即单个神经细胞的活动）可以很容易地与其整体行为相关联的实验准备将被使用。该系统的新颖之处在于，它将使通过远程计算机接口同时记录和控制神经活动成为可能。反过来，这将使神经动力学的新研究成为可能，因为它将有可能检查神经系统对特定刺激的反应。因此，电极阵列系统将被开发用于一种生物有机体，它的神经控制和生物力学已经很好地表征了，海洋软体动物加州海陆。这项研究的结果最终将在人类神经假体中有更广泛的应用。提出了一种具有不同电极几何形状和涂层材料的8x8刺激和传感电极阵列的设计和制造，以优化同时记录和刺激多个海马体神经元。同时，将设计和实施低功耗数据采集和遥测电子设备。这些装置将分别和一起进行测试，形成体外和体内的感觉/刺激遥测系统，分别在孤立的神经节、半完整的制剂和完整的行为动物中进行测试。

0652043Tabib-AzarThe main objective of this research is to design and implement an array of sensing and stimulating electrodes with integrated low-power electronics and telemetry to study dynamics of the nervous system in intact and behaving animals. A minimally intrusive implantable electrode array capable of recording and stimulating at multiple sites in the nervous system will be used. An experimental preparation in which the dynamics of the nervous system (i.e., the activity in single nerve cells) can be readily related to its overall behavior will be used. The novelty of the proposed system is that it will make it possible to record and control neural activity simultaneously through a remote computer interface. In turn, this will allow novel studies of neurodynamics, since it will be possible to examine the response of the nervous system to specific stimuli. For this reason, the electrode array system will be developed for a biological organism whose neural control and biomechanics have been very well characterized, the marine mollusk Aplysia californica. Results of this research will ultimately have broader applications in human neural prostheses.The design and fabrication of an 8x8 stimulation and sensing electrode array with different electrode geometries and coating materials to optimize recording and stimulation of many Aplysia neurons simultaneously is proposed. In parallel, design and implementation of a low-power data acquisition and telemetry electronics will take place. These devices will be tested separately and together, forming the sense/stimulate telemetry system in vitro and in vivo in isolated ganglia, semi-intact preparations and in intact and behaving animals.