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PDMS based multielectrode arrays for superior in-vitro retinal stimulation and recording

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Abstract

Understanding of the neural response to electrical stimulation requires simultaneous recording from the various neurons of retina. Electrodes form the physical interface with the neural or retinal tissue. Successful retinal stimulation and recording demands conformal integration of these electrodes with the soft tissue to ensure establishment of proper electrical connection with the excitable tissue. Mechanical impedance of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) being compliant with that of retinal tissue, offers excellent potential as a substrate for metal electrodes. In this paper, Cr/Au micro electrodes with 200 μm diameter were fabricated on rigid and flexible PDMS substrates under crack free condition. Spontaneous buckling of thin films over PDMS substrates improved electrode performance circumventing the fabrication issues faced over a buckled surface. Individual electrodes from the multielectrode arrays (MEAs) were examined with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Controlled fabrication process as described here generates buckles in the metal films leading to increased electrode surface area that increases the charge storage capacity and decreases the interface impedance of the metal electrodes. At 1 kHz, impedance was reduced from 490 ± 27 kΩ to 246 ± 19 kΩ and charge storage capacity was increased from 0.40 ± 0.87 mC/cm2 to 2.1 ± 0.87 mC/cm2. Neural spikes recorded with PDMS based electrodes from isolated retina also contained less noise as indicated by signal to noise ratio analysis. The present study established that the use of PDMS as a substrate for MEAs can enhance the performance of any thin film metal electrodes without incorporation of any coating layers or nanomaterials.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Indian Nanoelectronics Users Programme (INUP), India for providing the support for carrying out the device fabrication, and CEN (Centre of Excellence in Nano Technology), IIT Bombay for their permission to use the facilities. The authors also thank BioMEMS Lab in SMST, Medical Instrumentation Lab in SMST, AFM lab in SMST and Bioprocess & Instrumentation Lab in Electrical Engineering Department of IIT Kharagpur for providing the characterization facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Technology Development Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721302, India

    Satarupa Biswas

  2. School of Medical Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721302, India

    Debdeep Sikdar, Manjunatha Mahadevappa & Soumen Das

  3. Electrical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721302, India

    Debanjan Das

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  1. Satarupa Biswas
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  2. Debdeep Sikdar
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  4. Manjunatha Mahadevappa
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  5. Soumen Das
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Correspondence to Manjunatha Mahadevappa.

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Biswas, S., Sikdar, D., Das, D. et al. PDMS based multielectrode arrays for superior in-vitro retinal stimulation and recording. Biomed Microdevices 19, 75 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-017-0221-0

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