Multi-channel MR-compatible flexible microelectrode for recording and stimulation

用于记录和刺激的多通道 MR 兼容柔性微电极

• 批准号: 9139158
• 负责人: Robert Kyle Franklin
• 金额: $ 7.83万
• 依托单位: BLACKROCK MICROSYSTEMS
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-20 至 2019-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9139158
• 关键词: Address; Agar; American; Animals; Award; Biocompatible; Brain; Brain Mapping; Caliber; Clinical; Cluster Headache; Computer software; Contralateral; Control Groups; Data; Data Analyses; Deep Brain Stimulation; Devices; Disease; Dystonia; Electrodes; Electromagnetics; Electrophysiology (science); Environment; Epilepsy; Essential Tremor; Evaluation; Event; Excision; Forelimb; Foundations; Functional Imaging; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Future; Gel; Gilles de la Tourette syndrome; Glass; Head; Heating; Hybrids; Implant; Individual; Iridium; MRI Scans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Maps; Marketing; Materials Testing; Measurement; Measures; Mechanics; Mental disorders; Microelectrodes; Morphologic artifacts; Nature; Neurons; Neurosciences; Noise; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Parkinson Disease; Phase; Platinum; Play; Predisposition; Procedures; Protocols documentation; Qualifying; Rattus; Regional Blood Flow; Research; Resolution; Role; Sampling; Signal Transduction; Silicon; Site; Small Business Technology Transfer Research; Societies; Somatosensory Cortex; Staining method; Stains; Stimulus; System; Techniques; Technology; Temperature; Testing; Thalamic structure; Thick; Tissues; Work; base; brain research; brain tissue; chronic pain; clinical application; deep brain stimulation array; density; design; electric impedance; experience; falls; flexibility; hemodynamics; improved; in vivo; innovation; nervous system disorder; neural circuit; neuroimaging; neuronal circuitry; neurophysiology; neurovascular coupling; novel; patient safety; pre-clinical; prototype; public health relevance; radio frequency; reduce symptoms; relating to nervous system; research study; response; somatosensory; stem; success; tool; ultra high resolution; voltage

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become one of the leading research tools to study brain function and is playing a pivotal role in several large-scale brain mapping projects worldwide. Despite ongoing technical advancements in MRI which have greatly increased its availability and helped improve the resolution for functional brain mapping, we still have very limited understanding of what fMRI signals really represent. The fact that hemodynamic fMRI does not provide direct measurement of neuronal activities precludes many potential applications involving studies of neuronal circuit function. In contrast, electrophysiology detects actual electrical signaling with unsurpassed temporal and spatial resolution, but generally falls short of providing information in a large-scale network levl due to a limited number of recording sites. The desire to combine the strengths of both approaches prompted us to develop a high-resolution MR- compatible microelectrode array, permitting examination of electrophysiological signatures during MRI as well as evaluation of deep brain stimulation (DBS) efficacy using fMRI. Our pilot data have demonstrated success in using an advanced micromachining approach to fabricate a miniature electrode array with high-density electrodes (down to 75 µm pitch). In contrast to many platinum-iridium, glass, and silicon-based electrodes, our microelectrode uses a flexible, highly biocompatible, and MR-compatible base substrate - polyimide, which is known to better match the mechanical impedance of the brain than the other materials commonly used. Our previous work has optimized the rigidity of our electrode by experimenting with various thicknesses and layer designs. This unique tool is extremely important to accommodate a variety of over-head MR coils and gradient inserts with small inner-diameters because the majority of the brain coils, particularly the ones for preclinical small animal systems, are too large to permit the placement of a percutaneous connector on the head. Additionally, the probe has a built in ribbon cable to the connector which can be placed few centimeters away from the MR radio-frequency (RF) coils, reducing the potential for RF-induced heating, voltage changes, and MR-related noise during electrophysiological recording. In this Phase 1 STTR award, we will quantitatively evaluate this novel microelectrode array in vivo using rat subjects, with Aim 1 studying ultra-high resolution DBS-fMRI, and Aim 2 developing/validating tools for simultaneous fMRI and electrophysiological recording. These studies will be crucial for the future success in commercializing the probe as it will generate preliminary data for marketing and also set the foundation for various types of applications to study neural circuits in normal and diseased brains. We believe our work will result in a highly unique product, opening up a new avenue to explore and validate functional connectivity in the brain with a resolution and scale that cannot be achieved by traditional fMRI or electrophysiology alone.

 描述（由申请人提供）：功能性磁共振成像 (fMRI) 已成为研究大脑功能的主要研究工具之一，并且在全球多个大型大脑绘图项目中发挥着关键作用，尽管 MRI 的技术不断进步。大大提高了其可用性并有助于提高功能性大脑图谱的分辨率，但我们对功能磁共振成像信号真正代表什么的了解仍然非常有限，事实上，血流动力学功能磁共振成像不能直接测量神经活动，这阻碍了涉及神经回路研究的许多潜在应用。函数中。 相比之下，电生理学以无与伦比的时间和空间分辨率检测实际的电信号，但由于记录站点数量有限，通常无法提供大规模网络级别的信息。结合这两种方法的优势的愿望促使我们开发。高分辨率 MR 兼容微电极阵列，允许在 MRI 期间检查电生理特征，并使用 fMRI 评估深部脑刺激 (DBS) 功效。我们的试点数据已证明使用先进的微加工方法取得了成功。与许多铂铱、玻璃和硅基电极相比，我们的微电极使用柔性、高度生物相容性和 MR 兼容的基底基板来制造具有高密度电极的微型电极阵列（间距小至 75 µm）。 - 聚酰亚胺，众所周知，它比其他常用材料更好地匹配大脑的机械阻抗，我们通过试验各种厚度和层设计优化了电极的刚性。该工具对于容纳各种头顶 MR 线圈和小内径的梯度插入物非常重要，因为大多数脑线圈，特别是用于临床前小动物系统的脑线圈太大，无法放置经皮连接器此外，探头有一条内置带状电缆连接到连接器，可以将其放置在距 MR 射频 (RF) 线圈几厘米的位置，从而减少 RF 感应加热、电压变化和 MR- 的可能性。相关噪音在电生理记录期间，我们将使用大鼠受试者对这种新型微电极阵列进行体内定量评估，目标 1 研究超高。 分辨率 DBS-fMRI 和 Aim 2 开发/验证同步 fMRI 和电生理记录的工具这些研究对于探针未来商业化的成功至关重要，因为它将生成用于营销的初步数据，并为各种类型的应用奠定基础。研究正常和患病大脑中的神经回路，我们相信我们的工作将产生一种非常独特的产品，开辟一条探索和验证大脑功能连接的新途径，其分辨率和规模是传统功能磁共振成像或仅电生理学。