Browsing by Author "Wang, Weinan"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemEmbargo
    Chronic large-scale recording and stimulation enabled by ultra-flexible high-density neural probes and an implantation robot
    (2023-10-17) Wang, Weinan; Xie, Chong
    Ultraflexible nanoelectronic neural probes have shown their capabilities in stable long-term recording at a wide range of spatial-temporal scales and a high resolution from animal brains, thanks to their miniaturized electrode configurations and close-to-tissue mechanical compliance that contribute to a glial scar-free interface. These features also enable them to be integrated with imaging systems for neuron ensemble and vasculature study. However, current neural recording devices cannot record and process data from a large across-brain-region scale at a cellular level, while ensuring the free movement of an animal. Here, we present electron-beam lithography (EBL) fabricated high-density flexible probes with up to 1024 channels. They record spikes from free-moving rats with little amplitude degradation over up to 3 months. The ultraflexible polymer probes can be integrated with a lightweight, densely packed application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that enables simultaneous multi-thousand channel recording. We further propose a semi-automated implantation robot that has 32 individually and simultaneously addressable arms that integrate with probes, capable of inserting the shanks into a rodent’s brain at any geometric configuration at a wide range of speed per user’s need. The robot provides a reliable solution for parallel and independent insertion, which is useful for reducing implantation time and the adverse biological response. To our knowledge, it is so far the largest configurable parallel implantation system. We believe the high-density probes in combination with the high degree-of-freedom manipulation of the implantation will be an enabling technology in neuroscience studies in animal models, as well as in clinical applications.