Flexible polyimide microelectrode array for in vivo recordings and current source density analysis

This work presents implantable, flexible polymer-based probes with embedded microelectrodes for acute and chronic neural recordings in vivo, as tested on rodents. Acute recordings using this array were done in mice under urethane anesthesia and compared to those made using silicon-based probes manufactured at the Center for Neural Communication Technology, University of Michigan. The two electrode arrays yielded similar results. Recordings with chronically implanted polymer-based electrodes were performed for 60 days post-surgically in awake, behaving rats. The microelectrodes were used to monitor local field potentials and capture laminar differences in function of cortex and hippocampus, and produced response waveforms of undiminished amplitude and signal-to-noise ratios 8 weeks after chronic implantation. The polymer-based electrodes could also be connected to a lesion current to mark specific locations in the tissue. Current source density (CSD) analysis from the recordings depicted a source–sink-composition. Tissue response was assessed 8 weeks after insertion by immunochemical labeling with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) to identify astrocytes, and histological analysis showed minimal tissue reaction to the implanted structures.