Sandeep Negi

In vitro comparison of sputtered iridium oxide and platinum-coated neural implantable microelectrode arrays.

Neural interfaces connect signal processing electronics to the nervous system via implanted microelectrode arrays such as the Utah electrode array (UEA). The active sites of the UEA are coated with thin films of either platinum (Pt) or iridium oxide (IrOx). Pt and IrOx have attracted attention as a stimulating or recording material due to their ability to transfer between ionic and electronic current and to resist corrosion. The physical, mechanical, chemical, electrical and optical properties of thin films depend on the method and deposition parameters used to deposit the films. In this work, surface morphology, impedance and charge capacity of Pt and sputtered iridium oxide film (SIROF) were investigated and compared with each other. UEAs with similar electrode area and shape were employed in this study. DC sputtering was used to deposit Pt films and pulsed-dc reactive sputtering was used to deposit SIROF. The electrodes coated with SIROF and Pt were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potential transient measurements to measure charge injection capacity (CIC). SIROF and Pt selectively deposited on the electrode tip had dendrite and granular microstructure, respectively. The CIC of unbiased SIROF and Pt was 2 and 0.3 mC cm(-2), respectively. The average impedance at 1 kHz, of SIROF and Pt electrodes, was 6 kOmega and 125 kOmega, respectively. Low impedance and high CIC make SIROF promising stimulation/recording material for neural prosthetic applications.

Neural Electrode Degradation from Continuous Electrical Stimulation: Comparison of Sputtered and Activated Iridium Oxide

The performance of neural electrodes in physiological fluid, especially in chronic use, is critical for the success of functional electrical stimulation devices. Tips of the Utah electrode arrays (UEAs) were coated with sputtered iridium oxide film (SIROF) and activated iridium oxide film (AIROF) to study the degradation during charge injection consistent with functional electrical stimulation (FES). The arrays were subjected to continuous biphasic, cathodal first, charge balanced (with equal cathodal and anodal pulse widths) current pulses for 7h (>1 million pulses) at a frequency of 50 Hz. The amplitude and width of the current pulses were varied to determine the damage threshold of the coatings. Degradation was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The injected charge and charge density per phase were found to play synergistic role in damaging the electrodes. The damage threshold for SIROF coated electrode tips of the UEA was between 60 nC with a charge density of 1.9 mC/cm(2) per phase and 80 nC with a charge density of 1.0 mC/cm(2) per phase. While for AIROF coated electrode tips, the threshold was between 40 nC with a charge density of 0.9 mC/cm(2) per phase and 50 nC with a charge density of 0.5 mC/cm(2) per phase. Compared to AIROF, SIROF showed higher damage threshold and therefore is highly recommended to be used as a stimulation material.

Wafer-scale fabrication of penetrating neural microelectrode arrays

The success achieved with implantable neural interfaces has motivated the development of novel architectures of electrode arrays and the improvement of device performance. The Utah electrode array (UEA) is one example of such a device. The unique architecture of the UEA enables single-unit recording with high spatial and temporal resolution. Although the UEA has been commercialized and been used extensively in neuroscience and clinical research, the current processes used to fabricate UEA’s impose limitations in the tolerances of the electrode array geometry. Further, existing fabrication costs have led to the need to develop less costly but higher precision batch fabrication processes. This paper presents a wafer-scale fabrication method for the UEA that enables both lower costs and faster production. More importantly, the wafer-scale fabrication significantly improves the quality and tolerances of the electrode array and allow better controllability in the electrode geometry. A comparison between the geometrical and electrical characteristics of the wafer-scale and conventional array-scale processed UEA’s is presented.

Long-term reliability of Al2O3?and Parylene C bilayer encapsulated Utah electrode array based neural interfaces for chronic implantation

OBJECTIVE We focus on improving the long-term stability and functionality of neural interfaces for chronic implantation by using bilayer encapsulation. APPROACH We evaluated the long-term reliability of Utah electrode array (UEA) based neural interfaces encapsulated by 52 nm of atomic layer deposited Al2O3 and 6 µm of Parylene C bilayer, and compared these to devices with the baseline Parylene-only encapsulation. Three variants of arrays including wired, wireless, and active UEAs were used to evaluate this bilayer encapsulation scheme, and were immersed in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at 57 °C for accelerated lifetime testing. MAIN RESULTS The median tip impedance of the bilayer encapsulated wired UEAs increased from 60 to 160 kΩ during the 960 days of equivalent soak testing at 37 °C, the opposite trend to that typically observed for Parylene encapsulated devices. The loss of the iridium oxide tip metallization and etching of the silicon tip in PBS solution contributed to the increase of impedance. The lifetime of fully integrated wireless UEAs was also tested using accelerated lifetime measurement techniques. The bilayer coated devices had stable power-up frequencies at ∼910 MHz and constant radio-frequency signal strength of -50 dBm during up to 1044 days (still under testing) of equivalent soaking time at 37 °C. This is a significant improvement over the lifetime of ∼100 days achieved with Parylene-only encapsulation at 37 °C. The preliminary samples of bilayer coated active UEAs with a flip-chip bonded ASIC chip had a steady current draw of ∼3 mA during 228 days of soak testing at 37 °C. An increase in the current draw has been consistently correlated to device failures, so is a sensitive metric for their lifetime. SIGNIFICANCE The trends of increasing electrode impedance of wired devices and performance stability of wireless and active devices support the significantly greater encapsulation performance of this bilayer encapsulation compared with Parylene-only encapsulation. The bilayer encapsulation should significantly improve the in vivo lifetime of neural interfaces for chronic implantation.

A novel masking method for high aspect ratio penetrating microelectrode arrays

Neural interfaces connect signal processing electronics to the nervous system via implanted microelectrode arrays such as the Utah electrode array (UEA). The penetrating electrodes of the UEA are encapsulated with parylene-C. In order to form active electrode sites, parylene-C must be removed from the electrode tips. Masking the electrodes to selectively de-insulate the tips has been accomplished by poking the electrode through aluminum foil. This mechanical poking process lacks precise control over the length of exposed tips. The non-uniformity in tip exposure can change the electrode impedance across the array, which causes variability in recording and stimulating characteristics. This paper focuses on the development of a fabrication technology to produce uniformly exposed tip lengths, over a range of 30–350 µm. A novel batch-oriented and wafer-scale method to de-insulate the electrode tips of the UEA is presented which uses a photoresist to mask the samples and an oxygen plasma to etch parylene-C. The tip exposure is controlled by varying the spin speed during photoresist coating of the electrode array. At 100 rpm, the non-uniformity of the batch-processed arrays was 14.74 ± 7.49% while in the case of a wafer-scale process it was 3.0 ± 0.2% for 10 × 10 electrodes; this indicates that the wafer-scale process leads to better uniformity in tip exposure. A set of photoresist-based process parameters were also tested to ensure that the electrical and mechanical properties of parylene-C were not compromised by the process.

Excimer laser deinsulation of Parylene-C on iridium for use in an activated iridium oxide film-coated Utah electrode array

Implantable microelectrodes provide a measure to electrically stimulate neurons in the brain and spinal cord and record their electrophysiological activity. A material with a high charge capacity such as activated or sputter-deposited iridium oxide film (AIROF or SIROF) is used as an interface. The Utah electrode array (UEA) uses SIROF for its interface material with neural tissue and oxygen plasma etching (OPE) with an aluminium foil mask to expose the active area, where the interface between the electrode and neural tissue is formed. However, deinsulation of Parylene-C using OPE has limitations, including the lack of uniformity in the exposed area and reproducibility. While the deinsulation of Parylene-C using an excimer laser is proven to be an alternative for overcoming the limitations, the iridium oxide (IrOx) suffers from fracture when high laser fluence (>1000 mJ/cm2) is used. Iridium (Ir), which has a much higher fracture resistance than IrOx, can be deposited before excimer laser deinsulation and then the exposed Ir film area can be activated by electrochemical treatment to acquire the AIROF. Characterisation of the laser-ablated Ir film and AIROF by surface analysis (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, and atomic force microscope) and electrochemical analysis (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry) shows that the damage on the Ir film induced by laser irradiation is significantly less than that on SIROF, and the AIROF has a high charge storage capacity. The results show the potential of the laser deinsulation technique for use in high performance AIROF-coated UEA fabrication.

A Novel Method of Fabricating Convoluted Shaped Electrode Arrays for Neural and Retinal Prosthesis

A novel fabrication technique has been developed for creating high density (7.7 electrodes/mm2 ), out of plane, high aspect ratio silicon-based convoluted microelectrode arrays for neural and retinal prosthesis. The unique convoluted shape of the electrodes compliments the curved surface of nerves, and in the case of retina, its spherical geometry. This electrode arrays geometry has the potential to secure implantation in the nerve and to physically stabilize it against displacement after insertion. This report describes a novel method for de-insulation of the electrode tip and its limitations in terms of uniformity in tip de-insulation.

The use of a novel carbon nanotube coated microelectrode array for chronic intracortical recording and microstimulation

Micro-electrode arrays (MEAs) have been used in a variety of intracortical neural prostheses. While intracortical MEAs have demonstrated their utility in neural prostheses, in many cases MEA performance declines after several months to years of in vivo implantation. The application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) may increase the functional longevity of intracortical MEAs through enhanced biocompatibility and charge injection properties. An MEA metalized with platinum (Pt) on all electrodes had a CNT coating applied to the electrodes on half of the array. This Pt/Pt-CNT MEA was implanted into feline motor cortex for >;1 year. Recordings of action potentials and 1 kHz impedance measurements were made on all electrodes to evaluate device functionality. Additionally, electromyogram (EMG) responses were evoked using micro-stimulation via the MEA to measure device performance. These metrics were compared between Pt and Pt-CNT electrodes. There was no significant difference in the data acquisition or micro-stimulation performance of Pt and the Pt-CNT electrodes. However, impedances were lower on the Pt-CNT electrodes. These results demonstrate the functionality of CNT coatings during chronic in vivo implantation. The lower impedances suggest that for microstimulation applications CNT coatings may impart enhanced interface properties.

A novel technique for increasing charge injection capacity of neural electrodes for efficacious and safe neural stimulation

Neural prostheses require chronically implanted small area penetrating electrode arrays that can stimulate and record neural activity. The fundamental requirement of neural electrodes is to have low interface impedance and large charge injection capacity (CIC). To achieve this fundamental requirement, we developed a novel technique to modify the surface of the Utah Electrode Array (UEA) to increase the real surface area without changing the geometrical surface area. Pt was coated on modified and unmodified (control) UEAs and electrochemical characterization such as impedance and CIC was measured and compared. The surface modified electrode impedance and CIC was ~188 Ohm and ~24 mC/cm2 respectively. Increasing the real surface area of electrodes decreases the impedance by 1000 times and increases the CIC by 80 times compared to the control samples. The CIC of modified UEA was significantly higher than of any material reported in the literature, higher than sputtered iridium oxide (4 mC/cm2) or PEDOT (15 mC/cm2).

Wafer-scale processed, low impedance, neural arrays with varying length microelectrodes

Advances in silicon micromachining have lead to development of sophisticated neural interfaces such as the Utah Slant Electrode Array (USEA). The unique architecture of the USEA comprises of electrodes which increase in length in one direction, while being constant in length in the other. When implanted into a peripheral nerve, the tips of the electrodes penetrate nerve fascicles, and are close to discrete populations of nerve fibers. Although the USEA has been widely used in neural prosthesis the current processes used to fabricate USEA impose limitations in the tolerances of the electrode array geometry. This paper presents a wafer scale fabrication method for USEA which offers high precision and control in electrode geometry and their electrical characteristics.