title: Vertically aligned carbon nanofiber as nano-neuron interface for monitoring neural function.
abstract: Neural chips, which are capable of simultaneous multisite neural recording and stimulation, have been used to detect and modulate neural activity for almost thirty years. As neural interfaces, neural chips provide dynamic functional information for neural decoding and neural control. By improving sensitivity and spatial resolution, nano-scale electrodes may revolutionize neural detection and modulation at cellular and molecular levels as nano-neuron interfaces. We developed a carbon-nanofiber neural chip with lithographically defined arrays of vertically aligned carbon nanofiber electrodes and demonstrated its capability of both stimulating and monitoring electrophysiological signals from brain tissues in vitro and monitoring dynamic information of neuroplasticity. This novel nano-neuron interface may potentially serve as a precise, informative, biocompatible, and dual-mode neural interface for monitoring of both neuroelectrical and neurochemical activity at the single-cell level and even inside the cell.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The authors demonstrate the utility of a neural chip with lithographically defined arrays of vertically aligned carbon nanofiber electrodes. The new device can be used to stimulate and/or monitor signals from brain tissue in vitro and for monitoring dynamic information of neuroplasticity both intracellularly and at the single cell level including neuroelectrical and neurochemical activities.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, P. R. China. zhe.yu@siat.ac.cn
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Timothy E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: McKnight
authors.forename: M Nance
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Ericson
authors.forename: Anatoli V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Melechko
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.forename: Barclay
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Morrison
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D057139:Nanofibers; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon