TY - JOUR
T1 - Flexible, high-resolution thin-film electrodes for human and animal neural research
AU - Chiang, Chia Han
AU - Wang, Charles
AU - Barth, Katrina
AU - Rahimpour, Shervin
AU - Trumpis, Michael
AU - Duraivel, Suseendrakumar
AU - Rachinskiy, Iakov
AU - Dubey, Agrita
AU - Wingel, Katie E.
AU - Wong, Megan
AU - Witham, Nicholas S.
AU - Odell, Thomas
AU - Woods, Virginia
AU - Bent, Brinnae
AU - Doyle, Werner
AU - Friedman, Daniel
AU - Bihler, Eckardt
AU - Reiche, Christopher F.
AU - Southwell, Derek G.
AU - Haglund, Michael M.
AU - Friedman, Allan H.
AU - Lad, Shivanand P.
AU - Devore, Sasha
AU - Devinsky, Orrin
AU - Solzbacher, Florian
AU - Pesaran, Bijan
AU - Cogan, Gregory
AU - Viventi, Jonathan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd.
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Objective. Brain functions such as perception, motor control, learning, and memory arise from the coordinated activity of neuronal assemblies distributed across multiple brain regions. While major progress has been made in understanding the function of individual neurons, circuit interactions remain poorly understood. A fundamental obstacle to deciphering circuit interactions is the limited availability of research tools to observe and manipulate the activity of large, distributed neuronal populations in humans. Here we describe the development, validation, and dissemination of flexible, high-resolution, thin-film (TF) electrodes for recording neural activity in animals and humans. Approach. We leveraged standard flexible printed-circuit manufacturing processes to build high-resolution TF electrode arrays. We used biocompatible materials to form the substrate (liquid crystal polymer; LCP), metals (Au, PtIr, and Pd), molding (medical-grade silicone), and 3D-printed housing (nylon). We designed a custom, miniaturized, digitizing headstage to reduce the number of cables required to connect to the acquisition system and reduce the distance between the electrodes and the amplifiers. A custom mechanical system enabled the electrodes and headstages to be pre-assembled prior to sterilization, minimizing the setup time required in the operating room. PtIr electrode coatings lowered impedance and enabled stimulation. High-volume, commercial manufacturing enables cost-effective production of LCP-TF electrodes in large quantities. Main Results. Our LCP-TF arrays achieve 25× higher electrode density, 20× higher channel count, and 11× reduced stiffness than conventional clinical electrodes. We validated our LCP-TF electrodes in multiple human intraoperative recording sessions and have disseminated this technology to >10 research groups. Using these arrays, we have observed high-frequency neural activity with sub-millimeter resolution. Significance. Our LCP-TF electrodes will advance human neuroscience research and improve clinical care by enabling broad access to transformative, high-resolution electrode arrays.
AB - Objective. Brain functions such as perception, motor control, learning, and memory arise from the coordinated activity of neuronal assemblies distributed across multiple brain regions. While major progress has been made in understanding the function of individual neurons, circuit interactions remain poorly understood. A fundamental obstacle to deciphering circuit interactions is the limited availability of research tools to observe and manipulate the activity of large, distributed neuronal populations in humans. Here we describe the development, validation, and dissemination of flexible, high-resolution, thin-film (TF) electrodes for recording neural activity in animals and humans. Approach. We leveraged standard flexible printed-circuit manufacturing processes to build high-resolution TF electrode arrays. We used biocompatible materials to form the substrate (liquid crystal polymer; LCP), metals (Au, PtIr, and Pd), molding (medical-grade silicone), and 3D-printed housing (nylon). We designed a custom, miniaturized, digitizing headstage to reduce the number of cables required to connect to the acquisition system and reduce the distance between the electrodes and the amplifiers. A custom mechanical system enabled the electrodes and headstages to be pre-assembled prior to sterilization, minimizing the setup time required in the operating room. PtIr electrode coatings lowered impedance and enabled stimulation. High-volume, commercial manufacturing enables cost-effective production of LCP-TF electrodes in large quantities. Main Results. Our LCP-TF arrays achieve 25× higher electrode density, 20× higher channel count, and 11× reduced stiffness than conventional clinical electrodes. We validated our LCP-TF electrodes in multiple human intraoperative recording sessions and have disseminated this technology to >10 research groups. Using these arrays, we have observed high-frequency neural activity with sub-millimeter resolution. Significance. Our LCP-TF electrodes will advance human neuroscience research and improve clinical care by enabling broad access to transformative, high-resolution electrode arrays.
KW - Brain Machine Interface (BMI)
KW - ECoG
KW - Intraoperative
KW - LCP
KW - Neural Interface
KW - electrode
KW - iEEG
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109114787&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85109114787&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/1741-2552/ac02dc
DO - 10.1088/1741-2552/ac02dc
M3 - Article
C2 - 34010815
AN - SCOPUS:85109114787
SN - 1741-2560
VL - 18
JO - Journal of neural engineering
JF - Journal of neural engineering
IS - 4
M1 - 045009
ER -