Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2024
Abstract
Multielectrode arrays for interfacing with neurons are of great interest for a wide range of medical applications. However, current electrodes cause damage over time. Ultra small carbon fibers help to address issues but controlling the electrode site geometry is difficult. Here we propose a methodology to create small, pointed fiber electrodes (SPFe). We compare the SPFe to previously made blowtorched fibers in characterization. The SPFe result in small site sizes (105.4 ± 20.8μm2) with consistently sharp points (20.8 ± 7.64°). Additionally, these electrodes were able to record and/or stimulate neurons multiple animal models including rat cortex, mouse retina, Aplysia ganglia and octopus axial cord. In rat cortex, these electrodes recorded significantly higher peak amplitudes than the traditional blowtorched fibers. These SPFe may be applicable to a wide range of applications requiring a highly specific interface with individual neurons.
Keywords
axial nerve cord (ANC), Carbon fiber, cathodic charge storage capacity (CSCc), cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), foreign body response (FBR), high-density carbon fiber (HDCF), Platinum Iridium (PtIr), retinal ganglia cell (RGC), scanning electron microscope (SEM), small pointed fiber electrode (SPFe)
Language
English
Publication Title
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering
Grant
T32NS115724
Rights
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an Open Access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Richie J, Letner JG, Mclane-Svoboda A, Huan Y, Ghaffari DH, Valle ED, Patel PR, Chiel HJ, Pelled G, Weiland JD, Chestek CA. Fabrication and Validation of Sub-Cellular Carbon Fiber Electrodes. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2024;32:739-749. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2024.3360866. Epub 2024 Feb 13. PMID: 38294928; PMCID: PMC10919889.
Manuscript Version
Final Publisher Version