title: Light-addressable planar electrode with hydrogenated amorphous silicon and low-conductive passivation layer for stimulation of cultured neurons.
abstract: Conventional multielectrode arrays (MEAs) cannot always access desired neurons due to low electrode density and small number of electrode. To overcome this problem, we propose a light-addressable planar electrode on a glass substrate. The electrode has a 3-layer structure, namely a transparent SnO2 layer, an hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layer, and a passivation layer. Illumination to the a-Si:H layer increases the conductivity of a-Si:H and creates a virtual electrode at the surface of the illuminated site. In the present study, we developed a low-conductive zinc antimonate-dispersed epoxy layer. This layer could successfully prevent penetration of culture medium and thus deterioration of a-Si:H layer. A fluo-4 calcium imaging demonstrated that, when the whole area of electrode was illuminated, negative-monophasic voltage-controlled pulses could also successfully activate neurons cultured on the electrode. Moreover, the focused illumination to the electrode resulted in the selective activation of neurons around the illuminated area.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Mechano-Informatics, The University of Tokyo, Japan. suzuri@brain.imi.i.u-tokyo.ac.jp
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suzurikawa
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Yuzo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takayama
authors.forename: Shin'ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Warisawa
authors.forename: Mamoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitsuishi
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jimbo
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000737:chemistry*; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008839:Microelectrodes; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation; D010777:Photochemistry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D006859:Hydrogen; D012825:Silicon