title: Mechanical characterization of neural electrodes based on PDMS-parylene C-PDMS sandwiched system.
abstract: Manufacturing of neural electrodes based on metal foil and silicone rubber using a laser is a simple and promising method. A handicap of such electrode arrays is the mechanical robustness of the thin metal tracks that connect the electrode sites with the interconnection pads. Embedding of structured parylene C foil in silicone rubber turned out to be an interesting method to increase the robustness. Test samples with 12.5 μm thick platinum tracks and a 15 μm thick embedded and RIE-structured parylene C foil showed more than 800 % higher ultimate strength until breakage of the tracks. Different structured parylene C foil showed increasing robustness with increasing hole-spacing.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Biomedical Microtechnology, Department of Microsystems Engineering, University of Freiburg, Germany. christian.henle@imtek.de
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Henle
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hassler
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kohler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schuettler
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stieglitz
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004566:Electrodes; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009757:Nylons / Q000737:chemistry*; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D009757:Nylons; C085707:poly(dimethylsiloxane)-polyamide copolymer