Designed and fabricated in silicon chip technology, the probe is suitable for breakthrough bio-interfaces and implants that will shape the future of neuroscience. With hundreds of electrodes capable of contacting and reading out single neurons, this probe incorporates innovations that point the way to a better understanding of the brain, and ultimately will lead to diagnostic and prosthetic tools to tackle human brain diseases.

Marleen Welkenhuysen, NeuroSeeker project manager at imec, commented: “Our goal was to fabricate a brain probe that would enable a breakthrough in the level of detail by which micro circuits of the brain cortex and also deep brain structures can be studied. Previous probes were severely restricted in the number of signals that could be captured simultaneously which limited their use as a basis for research and therapeutic tools. With this new probe, we demonstrate that it is possible to create powerful electronics that can interface with the brain on the level of small neuronal circuits and even individual neurons.”

Imec’s NeuroSeeker probe has the size of a chip package and consists of a base chip and protruding needle. The needle is biocompatible and extremely thin (8mm long, 50µm thick, and 100μm wide), to reduce damage to the brain tissue. Along the needle’s shaft hundreds of electrodes are arranged, each a tiny square measuring 20x20µm2. To allow for the dense layout of the electrodes and to be able to read out all electrodes simultaneously, the designers created an innovative time-division multiplexing scheme, which connects 8 electrodes through a single wire with the electronics in the base chip.

Imec’s breakthrough brain probe was fabricated within in the frame of the European FP7 project NeuroSeeker (grant agreement n°600925), a four-year project that was launched in January 2013. The ambitious project was run by an international consortium of leading European and Canadian laboratories with expertise spanning the breath of brain research, from probe technology to theories of information representation.

Imec’s ITF Health is an exclusive event for business leaders, biomedical experts and visionaries in healthcare and nanotechnology. The forum is held on Oct 3 in San Diego, Calif., and provides insights into rapidly evolving R&D at the crossroads of healthcare and nanoelectronics, with a specific interest in solving current and future healthcare challenges.