Development of microinterface devices for long-term observation of mouse brain

观察活体动物完整大脑中的神经细胞是神经科学中最重大的挑战之一。双光子激光扫描显微镜（2PLSM）能够对脑组织进行深度达几百微米的细胞成像，并通过释放谷氨酸的光解作用刺激单个神经元突触，因此是神经科学中的一个强大工具。但是，如果观察活体动物的完整大脑，则需要在头骨上钻一个洞，取出硬脑膜，观察脑组织深处，并引入笼状谷氨酸。因此，细菌感染和脑液的流失阻碍了数周的长期观察。因此，我们开发了一种可植入的微型脑接口装置，用于控制化学物质的浓度，并利用微流控装置技术对活体动物组织中的细胞进行长期观察。

The observation of neural cells in the intact brain of a living animal is one of the most significant challenges in neuroscience. Two-photon laser scanning microscopy (2PLSM) enables the cellular imaging of brain tissue up to a depth of several hundred micrometers and the stimulation of a single synapse of neurons by the photolytic release of caged glutamate, and is thus a powerful tool in neuroscience. However, in the case of observing the intact brain of a living animal, one should drill a hole in the skull and remove the dura to observe deep inside the brain tissue and introduce caged glutamate. Thus, bacterial infection and the loss of brain fluid prevent long-term observation over several weeks. Therefore, we have developed an implantable microscale brain interface device for controlling the concentration of chemicals and enabling the long-term observation of cells in the tissues of living animals by applying microfluidic device technoloy.