title: Interfacing neurons both extracellularly and intracellularly using carbon-nanotube probes with long-term endurance.
abstract: This study demonstrates that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be fabricated into probes directly, with which neural activity can be monitored and elicited not only extracellularly but also intracellularly. Two types of CNT probes have been made and examined with the escape neural circuit of crayfish, Procambarus clarkia. The CNT probes are demonstrated to have comparable performance to conventional Ag/AgCl (silver/silver cloride) electrodes. Impedance measurement and cyclic voltammetry further indicate that the CNT probes transmit electrical signals through not only capacitive coupling but also resistive conduction. The resistive conduction facilitates the recording of postsynaptic potentials and equilibrium membrane potentials intracellularly as well as the delivery of direct-current stimulation. Furthermore, delivering current stimuli for a long term is found to enhance rather than to degrade the recording capability of the CNT probes. The mechanism of this fruitful result is carefully investigated and discussed. Therefore, our findings here support the suggestion that CNTs are suitable for making biocompatible, durable neural probes of various configurations for diverse applications.
authors: Institute of Molecular Medicine, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), 101, Sec. 2, Kuang-Fu Rd., Hsinchu, Taiwan 300.
authors: Shih-Rung
authors: SR
authors: Yeh
authors: Yung-Chan
authors: YC
authors: Chen
authors: Huan-Chieh
authors: HC
authors: Su
authors: Tri-Rung
authors: TR
authors: Yew
authors: Hsiu-Hua
authors: HH
authors: Kao
authors: Yu-Tao
authors: YT
authors: Lee
authors: Tai-An
authors: TA
authors: Liu
authors: Hsieh
authors: H
authors: Chen
authors: Yen-Chung
authors: YC
authors: Chang
authors: Pin
authors: P
authors: Chang
authors: Hsin
authors: H
authors: Chen