Modular polymer probe system (UCSF and Lawrence Livermore)
Modular polymer probe recording system
A recording platform built from flexible polymer probes, stackable electronics and a shared acquisition system. The paper describes 32- and 64-channel arrays with two or four shanks, respectively. Each shank carries 16 recording contacts in a dual-line layout.
Published hardware
| Field | Paper detail |
|---|---|
| Shank thickness | 14 µm |
| Contact shape and diameter | Circular, 20 µm |
| Contact edge-to-edge spacing | 20 µm |
| Four-shank array spacing | 250 µm edge-to-edge |
| Contact material | Platinum with electrodeposited PEDOT:PSS |
| Module | 64-channel Intan amplifying, digitizing and multiplexing chip on a custom PCB |
| Stack capacity | Two stacks of eight modules, up to 1,024 channels |
| Acquisition | 30 kHz per channel, through an FPGA headstage and HDMI commutator |
| Temporary insertion stiffener | Silicon, 30 µm thick, 60 µm wide, 25° tip angle |
Edge-to-edge spacing is not center pitch. The shank and contact layout should not be reconstructed by substituting one for the other. The 1,024-channel system capacity is separate from the count of isolated neurons.
Recording evidence
The paper describes months-long recordings from hundreds of well-isolated units across several brain regions in freely behaving rats. In one analysis, automated curation identified 375 putative single units from 512 channels of a 1,024-channel implant.
For continuous tracking, the team analyzed 10- or 11-day recordings in three animals. The recording windows started 42, 47 and 53 days after implantation. This supports the paper’s claim of tracking many units for more than a week, not an assertion that every unit remained identifiable for months.
Implantation and limits
Flexible arrays were inserted serially with silicon stiffeners and assembled into a protected head-mounted system. Multiple arrays could be placed within one region. Silicone gel, elastomer, a printed casing and passive aluminum heatsinks were part of the assembly.
This is a preclinical research platform. No human implantation or clinical BCI outcome is established by the paper. No full 3D model is added here because a faithful assembly needs the shank outline, contact map, stiffener and module drawings, not just the few dimensions in this entry.
Organizations and publication
The paper lists UCSF, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Flatiron Institute, SpikeGadgets, NYU and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute among its affiliations. Published online November 27, 2018; Neuron issue date January 2, 2019. Those two dates describe the same paper, not separate devices.
Sources
- Chung JE, Joo HR, Fan JL, et al. High-Density, Long-Lasting, and Multi-region Electrophysiological Recordings Using Polymer Electrode Arrays. Neuron 101:21-31.e5 (2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.11.002. Primary paper, Figure 1 and recording analyses.
- Primary abstract, affiliations and publication dates.