Title: Plastic neuronal probes for implantation in cortical and subcortical areas of the rat brain

Authors: Esma Ismailova; Thomas Doublet; Dion Khodagholy; Pascale Quilichini; Antoine Ghestem; Sang Yoon Yang; Christophe Bernard; George G. Malliaras

Addresses: Centre Microélectronique de Provence, Department of Bioelectronics, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint Etienne, 880 route de Mimet, 13541 Gardanne, France. ' INSERM U 751, Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine La Timone, 27 Bd. Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France; Microvitae Technologies, Pôle d’Activité Y. Morandat, 1480 rue d’Arménie, 13120 Gardanne, France. ' Centre Microélectronique de Provence, Department of Bioelectronics, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint Etienne, 880 Route de Mimet, 13541 Gardanne, France. ' INSERM U 751, Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine La Timone, 27 Bd. Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France. ' INSERM U 751, Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine La Timone, 27 Bd. Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France. ' Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-1501, USA. ' INSERM U 751, Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine La Timone, 27 Bd. Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France. ' Centre Microélectronique de Provence, Department of Bioelectronics, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint Etienne, 880 Route de Mimet, 13541 Gardanne, France

Abstract: We discuss the fabrication of flexible implantable probes for recording neuronal activity in the rat brain. We fabricated such probes bearing 12 platinum electrodes, using polyimide as a substrate and SU-8 as an insulation layer. The fabrication process was simplified through the use of laser ablation to define the probe outline. The probes showed not only good mechanical flexibility but also the required stiffness for implantation. Histology results and electrical recordings of neuronal activity lend support to the idea that the combination of polyimide and SU-8 represents a good choice of materials for the fabrication of implantable neuronal probes.

Keywords: bioelectronics; implantable electrodes; hippocampus; cortex; in vivo recordings; flexible microarrays; plastic probes; neuronal probes; rat brains; flexible probes; nanotechnology; laser ablation; polyimide.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2012.045351

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2012 Vol.9 No.3/4/5/6/7, pp.517 - 528

Published online: 06 Feb 2012 *

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