A Polymer Thick Film on an Organic Substrate Grid Electrode and an Open-Source Recording System for UHF MRI: An Imaging Study

Electrocorticography (ECoG) is a critical tool in preclinical neuroscience research for studying global network activity. However, integrating ECoG with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has posed challenges, due to metal electrode interference with imaging quality and heating around the metallic electrodes. Here, we introduce recent advancements in ECoG grid development that utilize a polymer-thick film on an organic substrate (PTFOS). PTFOS offers notable advantages over traditional ECoG grids. Firstly, it significantly reduces imaging artifacts, ensuring minimal interference with MR image quality when overlaying brain tissue with PTFOS grids. Secondly, during a 30-min fMRI acquisition, the temperature increase associated with PTFOS grids is remarkably low, measuring only 0.4 °C. These findings suggest that utilizing ECoG with PTFOS grids has the potential to enhance the safety and efficacy of neurosurgical procedures. By providing clearer imaging results and mitigating risk factors such as excessive heating during MRI scans, PTFOS-based ECoG grids represent a promising advancement in neurosurgical technology. Furthermore, we describe a cutting-edge open-source system designed for simultaneous electrophysiology and fMRI. This system stands out due to its exceptionally low input noise levels (