Single-chip microelectronic system to interface with living cells

A CMOS neuroelectronic interface based on two-dimensional transistor arrays with monolithically-integrated circuitry

“…The noise level is comparable to that reported in Lambacher et al (2004) (280 V RMS ) but greater than that achieved by conventional tools or the microelectrodes in Heer et al (2006Heer et al ( , 2007 (11.7 V RMS ). The main difference between these works is that neural activity is transduced and amplified as current signals in our work and in Lambacher et al (2004), but as voltage signals in Heer et al (2006Heer et al ( , 2007. As it is not easy to filter current-mode signals in integrated circuits, the lack of on-chip filters leads to less satisfactory noise performance.…”

“…The inplane MEAs are particularly useful for building a noninvasive, multi-site interface with neural tissues (Eversmann et al, 2003;Lambacher et al, 2004;Heer et al, 2006Heer et al, , 2007Meyburg et al, 2006;Claverol-Tinture et al, 2007;Giovangrandi et al, 2006). Such an interface enables the long-term study of neural development and plasticity (Breckenridge et al, 1995;Jimbo et al, 2003;Morin et al, 2005;Vato et al, 2003).…”

Flexible electrical recording from cells using nanowire transistor arrays

“…Over the past several decades, studies of electroactive cells have been carried out by using a variety of recording techniques, including glass micropipette intracellular and patch-clamp electrodes (1,3), voltage-sensitive dyes (4,5), multielectrode arrays (MEAs) (6)(7)(8), and planar FETs (9)(10)(11). The latter 2 recording techniques use welldeveloped microfabrication methods to allow for direct multiplexed detection on a scale not possible with micropipette technology, although the MEAs and FETs exhibit limited signalto-noise ratios (S/N) and detection areas that make cellular and subcellular recording difficult (12,13).…”

Neuronal cell biocompatibility and adhesion to modified CMOS electrodes

“…Heer et al (2007) have succeeded in producing a biocompatible array by introducing additional deposition and photolithography steps to the CMOS process to create platinum electrodes shifted away from the openings to the aluminium (pads). Due to the high cost of the microfabrication apparatus required to create these shifted electrodes, this approach is most suited to low volume research platforms.…”