Ultrasmall implantable composite microelectrodes with bioactive surfaces for chronic neural interfaces.

ABSTRACT: Implantable neural microelectrodes that can record extracellular biopotentials from small, targeted groups of neurons are critical for neuroscience research and emerging clinical applications including brain-controlled prosthetic devices. The crucial material-dependent problem is developing microelectrodes that record neural activity from the same neurons for years with high fidelity and reliability. Here, we report the development of an integrated composite electrode consisting of a carbon-fibre core, a poly(p-xylylene)-based thin-film coating that acts as a dielectric barrier and that is functionalized to control intrinsic biological processes, and a poly(thiophene)-based recording pad. The resulting implants are an order of magnitude smaller than traditional recording electrodes, and mo

SUBMITTER: Kozai TD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3524530 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature