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Advances in Carbon-Based Microfiber Electrodes for Neural Interfacing.

ABSTRACT: Neural interfacing devices using penetrating microelectrode arrays have emerged as an important tool in both neuroscience research and medical applications. These implantable microelectrode arrays enable communication between man-made devices and the nervous system by detecting and/or evoking neuronal activities. Recent years have seen rapid development of electrodes fabricated using flexible, ultrathin carbon-based microfibers. Compared to electrodes fabricated using rigid materials and larger cross-sections, these microfiber electrodes have been shown to reduce foreign body responses after implantation, with improved signal-to-noise ratio for neural recording and enhanced resolution for neural stimulation. Here, we review recent progress of carbon-based microfiber electrodes in terms of material composition and fabrication technology. The remaining challenges and future directions for development of these arrays will also be discussed. Overall, these microfiber electrodes are expected to improve the longevity and reliability of neural interfacing devices.

SUBMITTER: Hejazi M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8072048 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Advances in Carbon-Based Microfiber Electrodes for Neural Interfacing.

Hejazi Maryam M Tong Wei W Ibbotson Michael R MR Prawer Steven S Garrett David J DJ

Frontiers in neuroscience 20210412

Neural interfacing devices using penetrating microelectrode arrays have emerged as an important tool in both neuroscience research and medical applications. These implantable microelectrode arrays enable communication between man-made devices and the nervous system by detecting and/or evoking neuronal activities. Recent years have seen rapid development of electrodes fabricated using flexible, ultrathin carbon-based microfibers. Compared to electrodes fabricated using rigid materials and larger ...[more]

PMID: 33912007

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Project description:Implantable brain electrophysiology electrodes are valuable tools in both fundamental and applied neuroscience due to their ability to record neural activity with high spatiotemporal resolution from shallow and deep brain regions. Their use has been hindered, however, by the challenges in achieving chronically stable operations. Furthermore, implantable depth neural electrodes can only carry out limited data sampling within predefined anatomical regions, making it challenging to perform large-area brain mapping. Minimizing inflammatory responses and associated gliosis formation, and improving the durability and stability of the electrode insulation layers are critical to achieve long-term stable neural recording and stimulation. Combining electrophysiological measurements with simultaneous whole-brain imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), provides a useful solution to alleviate the challenge in scalability of implantable depth electrodes. In recent years, various carbon-based materials have been used to fabricate flexible neural depth electrodes with reduced inflammatory responses and MRI-compatible electrodes, which allows structural and functional MRI mapping of the whole brain without obstructing any brain regions around the electrodes. Here, we conducted a systematic comparative evaluation on the electrochemical properties, mechanical properties, and MRI compatibility of different kinds of carbon-based fiber materials, including carbon nanotube fibers, graphene fibers, and carbon fibers. We also developed a strategy to improve the stability of the electrode insulation without sacrificing the flexibility of the implantable depth electrodes by sandwiching an inorganic barrier layer inside the polymer insulation film. These studies provide us with important insights into choosing the most suitable materials for next-generation implantable depth electrodes with unique capabilities for applications in both fundamental and translational neuroscience research.

Project description:Long-term implantable neural interfacing devices are able to diagnose, monitor, and treat many cardiac, neurological, retinal and hearing disorders through nerve stimulation, as well as sensing and recording electrical signals to and from neural tissue. To improve specificity, functionality, and performance of these devices, the electrodes and microelectrode arrays-that are the basis of most emerging devices-must be further miniaturized and must possess exceptional electrochemical performance and charge exchange characteristics with neural tissue. In this report, we show for the first time that the electrochemical performance of femtosecond-laser hierarchically-restructured electrodes can be tuned to yield unprecedented performance values that significantly exceed those reported in the literature, e.g. charge storage capacity and specific capacitance were shown to have improved by two orders of magnitude and over 700-fold, respectively, compared to un-restructured electrodes. Additionally, correlation amongst laser parameters, electrochemical performance and surface parameters of the electrodes was established, and while performance metrics exhibit a relatively consistent increasing behavior with laser parameters, surface parameters tend to follow a less predictable trend negating a direct relationship between these surface parameters and performance. To answer the question of what drives such performance and tunability, and whether the widely adopted reasoning of increased surface area and roughening of the electrodes are the key contributors to the observed increase in performance, cross-sectional analysis of the electrodes using focused ion beam shows, for the first time, the existence of subsurface features that may have contributed to the observed electrochemical performance enhancements. This report is the first time that such performance enhancement and tunability are reported for femtosecond-laser hierarchically-restructured electrodes for neural interfacing applications.

Dataset Information

Advances in Carbon-Based Microfiber Electrodes for Neural Interfacing.

Publications

Advances in Carbon-Based Microfiber Electrodes for Neural Interfacing.

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