Nanostructured cavity devices for extracellular stimulation of HL-1 cells.
Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) are state-of-the-art devices for extracellular recording and stimulation on biological tissue. Furthermore, they are a relevant tool for the development of biomedical applications like retina, cochlear and motor prostheses, cardiac pacemakers and drug screening. Hence, research on functional cell-sensor interfaces, as well as the development of new surface structures and modifications for improved electrode characteristics, is a vivid and well established field. However, combining single-cell resolution with sufficient signal coupling remains challenging due to poor cell-electrode sealing. Furthermore, electrodes with diameters below 20 µm often suffer from a high electrical impedance affecting the noise during voltage recordings. In this study, we report on a nanocavity sensor array for voltage-controlled stimulation and extracellular action potential recordings on cellular networks. Nanocavity devices combine the advantages of low-impedance electrodes with small cell-chip interfaces, preserving a high spatial resolution for recording and stimulation. A reservoir between opening aperture and electrode is provided, allowing the cell to access the structure for a tight cell-sensor sealing. We present the well-controlled fabrication process and the effect of cavity formation and electrode patterning on the sensor's impedance. Further, we demonstrate reliable voltage-controlled stimulation using nanostructured cavity devices by capturing the pacemaker of an HL-1 cell network.
Institute of Bioelectronics (PGI-8/ICS-8), Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA - Fundamentals of Future Information Technologies, 52425 Jülich, Germany. b.wolfrum@fz-juelich.de.
Anna
A
Czeschik
Philipp
P
Rinklin
Ulrike
U
Derra
Sabrina
S
Ullmann
Peter
P
Holik
Siegfried
S
Steltenkamp
Andreas
A
Offenhäusser
Bernhard
B
Wolfrum
D017097:Electric Impedance; D006801:Humans; D008839:Microelectrodes; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*