Nano- and Bio-Electronics: CMOS-Enabled Massively-Parallel Intracellular Nanowire Array as a New Neuroscience Tool and its Biotic-Abiotic Hybrid Application for Micro-Neuroprosthesis Technology
Abstract
Parallelization of intracellular recording/stimulation will revolutionize the field of neuroscience and neurotechnology. Combining the two tasks, intracellular and parallel, in one tool, however, has proven difficult. For example, the microelectrodes that can be readily realized into a large-scale array for parallelism can only measure extracellular signals, while the patch clamp technique known for high-fidelity intracellular recording cannot be scaled for parallelism. The recently introduced vertical nanowire electrode technology offers a new line of attack to this long-standing parallel vs. intracellular dichotomy. The nanowires can enter live mammalian neurons for intracellular measurement/stimulation, yet they can be top-down defined by standard fabrication techniques into an array. The first objective of this proposal is to transform the vertical nanowire array into a powerful practical tool for neuroscience and neurotechnology by significantly expanding its scale and capability. Concretely, we will create a large, high-density arrayÐÐ128?128 recording/stimulation sitesÐÐof vertical nanowires on top of a custom-designed CMOS integrated circuit (IC). Nanowires of each site on the chip surface will be operated by their own amplifier, stimulator, and memory in the underlying IC. These in situ electronics proximate to the nanowires will be pivotal in enabling the large array operation and for achieving the recording sensitivity on a par with the patch clamp technique. The unprecedented intracellular + parallel ability of the proposed device will open up many new exciting possibilities in neuroscience and neurotechnology. The second objective is to demonstrate one such possibility: we will utilize the device to perform micro-neuroprosthetic operations on in vitro mammalian neuronal networks. The device will manipulate the network dynamics by electrically regulating existing synaptic connections and by creating new, artificial synaptic connections. This single-cell resolution control of the functional connectivity of the large neuronal network is possible due to the large number of intracellular couplings between the nanowire array and the neuronal network. In this micro-neuroprosthetic operation, the biotic-abiotic functional boundaries will be blurred and hybrid bio-nano-semiconductor systems will emerge. For concrete demonstration, neural oscillation from in vitro mammalian neurons will be used as a model network dynamics, as neural oscillation is highly relevant to neuroprosthesis due to its roles in brain functions and pathology. The device will be used to modulate oscillation rhythmicity, repair oscillation, create new oscillation, and control oscillation synchronization. Along this direction, we will also pursue cellular-level control of hypersynchronous oscillation that models epileptic seizure; we will identify early-stage cues of hypersynchronization and repair malignant synaptic pathways to prevent the hypersynchronous dynamics. This line of study may lead to new strategies for implanted devices and brain-machine interface.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 31, 2018
- Source ID
- W911NF1510565
Entities
People
- Donhee Ham
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Harvard University
- United States Army