A 50µm pitch, 1120-channel, 20kHz frame rate microelectrode array for slice recording

Abstract

We present a 1,120 channel active microelectrode array with 50µm pitch recording sites for direct recording of neural slices. Every sensor site has a frontend low noise amplifier and photopixel for correlating optical stimulus with electrical activity. The frontend is AC-coupled and achieves area-efficiency by integrating the large input capacitor and recording electrode directly over the circuitry in conjunction with a single T-capacitor feedback network. Degraded PSRR (63dB) and CMRR (21dB) from the single feedback network are overcome by utilizing a virtual shared reference, improving rejection to 84dB and 66dB, respectively. Despite a small area, the frontend amplifier has an input-referred noise of 4.3µVrms with tunable high-and low-pass corners with very little variation from site-to-site. Experiments from a transgenic mouse olfactory bulb slice are shown. The array was implemented in a standard 180nm CMOS process.

Revealing neuronal function through microelectrode array recordings

“…Fixed-wiring arrays include devices without any on-chip circuitry (Alpha MED Science Co., Ltd. 1 ; Multi Channel Systems GmbH 2 ; Thomas et al, 1972 ; Gross et al, 1977 ; Pine, 1980 ; Regehr et al, 1989 ; Nisch et al, 1994 ; Oka et al, 1999 ; Litke et al, 2004 ; Segev et al, 2004 ; Greschner et al, 2014 ), but also MEAs with on-chip circuitry limited to the surrounding of the array (Greve et al, 2007 ) and arrays that include FETs (Offenhäusser et al, 1997 ) and source follower devices directly wired to circuitry outside the array (DeBusschere and Kovacs, 2001 ). Multiplexed arrays employ some sort of multiplexing within the actual array (Eversmann et al, 2003a , 2011 ; Heer et al, 2006 ; Tokuda et al, 2006 ; Aziz et al, 2009 ; Berdondini et al, 2005 , 2009 ; Frey et al, 2010 ; Huys et al, 2012 ; Johnson et al, 2012 , 2013a , b ; Maccione et al, 2013 ; Ballini et al, 2014 ; Bertotti et al, 2014 ).…”

“…The two most prominent preparations investigated with in vitro CMOS MEAs so far are acute retina preparations from mice (Menzler and Zeck, 2011 ; Fiscella et al, 2012 ; Maccione et al, 2014 ), rats (Eickenscheidt et al, 2012 ; Lloyd et al, 2014 ; Stutzki et al, 2014 ), rabbits (Zeck et al, 2011 ; Ballini et al, 2014 ; Fiscella et al, 2014 ), guinea pig (Velychko et al, 2014 ) and humans (Reinhardt and Blickhan, 2014 ); and cultured neuronal cells from snails (Eversmann et al, 2003a ), rats (Hafizovic et al, 2007 ; Heer et al, 2007 ; Gandolfo et al, 2010 ; Lambacher et al, 2010 ; Bakkum et al, 2013 ; Ballini et al, 2014 ) and chicken (Hafizovic et al, 2007 ). Additionally, data from acute slices of the cerebellum (Frey et al, 2009a ; Obien et al, 2014 ), cortex (Ferrea et al, 2012 ; Medrihan et al, 2014 ) and olfactory bulb (Johnson et al, 2013a ) have been shown. Also cultured cardiomyocytes were studied (DeBusschere and Kovacs, 2001 ; Heer et al, 2004 ; Imfeld et al, 2008 ; Sanchez-Bustamante et al, 2008 ; Huys et al, 2012 ) and first results from mice organotypic slices were presented (Gong et al, 2014 ).…”

Toward true closed-loop neuromodulation: artifact-free recording during stimulation

“…As a result, neural recording designs have primarily focused on optimizing power efficiency to extend battery life, reduce wireless power harvesting requirements, or minimize heat dissipation [28][29][30][31]. As recording systems scale to higher channel counts (>1000), power-efficient design is further exacerbated by tight area constraints [32][33][34] and high communication data rates [35].…”

Development and Bio-imaging Applications of a Chemical Imaging Sensor

“…(35,36) The feasibility of a megapixel device and the possibility of multimodal imaging are the advantages of a CCD/CMOS-based pH image sensor. Frame rate (fps) 20k fps @28 × 40 pixels (7) 55 fps @20 × 20 pixels (9) 1200 fps @64 × 64 pixels (25) 58 fps @128 × 128 pixels (29) Fig. 1.…”