Longitudinal intrafascicular electrodes (LIFEs) are electrodes designed to be placed inside the peripheral nerve to improve stimulation selectivity and to increase the recording signal-to-noise ratio. We evaluated the functional and morphological effects of either Pt wire LIFEs or polyimide-based thin-film LIFEs implanted in the rat sciatic nerve for 3 mo. The newly designed thin-film LIFEs are more flexible, can be micromachined and allow placement of more active electrode sites than conventional Pt LIFEs. Functional results at 1 mo indicated an initial decline in the nerve conduction velocity and in the amplitude of muscle responses, which recovered during the following 2 mo towards normal values. Morphological results showed that both types of LIFEs induced a mild scar response and a focal but chronic inflammatory reaction, which were limited to a small area around the electrode placed in the nerve. Both types of LIFEs can be considered biocompatible and cause reversible, minimal nerve damage.

Among the possible interfaces with the peripheral nervous system (PNS), intraneural electrodes represent an interesting solution for their potential advantages such as the possibility of extracting spikes from electroneurographic (ENG) signals. Their use could increase the precision and the amount of information which can be detected with respect to other processing methods.In this study, in order to verify this assumption, thin-film longitudinal intrafascicular electrodes (tfLIFE) were implanted in the sciatic nerve of rabbits. Various sensory stimuli were applied to the hind limb of the animal and the elicited ENG signals were recorded using the tfLIFEs. These signals were processed to determine whether the different types of information can be decoded. Signals were wavelet denoised and spike sorted. Support vector machines were trained to use the spike waveforms found to infer the stimulus applied to the rabbit. This approach was also compared with previously used ENG processing methods.The results indicate that the combination of wavelet denoising and spike sorting techniques can increase the amount of information extractable from ENG signals recorded with intraneural electrodes. This strategy could allow the development of more effective closed-loop neuroprostheses and hybrid bionic systems connecting the human nervous system with artificial devices.

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Choi JH, Koch KP, Poppendieck W, Lee M, Shin HS. High resolution electroencephalography in freely moving mice. J Neurophysiol 104: 1825-1834, 2010. First published July 7, 2010 doi:10.1152/jn.00188.2010. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a standard tool for monitoring brain states in humans. Understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying diverse EEG rhythms can be facilitated by using mouse models under molecular, pharmacological, or electrophysiological manipulations. The small size of the mouse brain, however, poses a severe limitation in the spatial information of EEG. To overcome this limitation, we devised a polyimide based microelectrode array (PBM array) with nanofabrication technologies. The microelectrode contains 32 electrodes, weighs 150 mg, and yields noise-insensitive signals when applied on the mouse skull. The highdensity microelectrode allowed both global and focused mapping of high resolution EEG (HR-EEG) in the mouse brain. Mapping and dynamical analysis tools also have been developed to visualize the dynamical changes of spatially resolved mouse EEG. We demonstrated the validity and utility of mouse EEG in localization of the seizure onset in absence seizure model and phase dynamics of abnormal theta rhythm in transgenic mice. Dynamic tracking of the EEG map in genetically modified mice under freely moving conditions should allow study of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the generation and dynamics of diverse EEG rhythms.