Why not record from every channel with a CMOS scanning probe?

Abstract

Neural recording devices normally require one output connection for each electrode. This constrains the number of electrodes that can be accommodated by the thin shafts of implantable probes. Sharing a single output connection between multiple electrodes relaxes this constraint and permits designs of ultra-high density neural probes.

Here we report the design and in vivo validation of such a device, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) scanning probe with 1344 electrodes and 12 reference electrodes along an 8.1 mm x 100 μm x 50 μm shaft; the outcome of the European research project NeuroSeeker. This technology presented new challenges for data management and visualization, and we also report new methods addressing these challenges developed within NeuroSeeker.

Scanning CMOS technology allows the fabrication of much smaller, denser electrode arrays. To help design electrode configurations for future probes, several recordings from many different brain regions were made with an ultra-dense passive probe fabricated using CMOS process. All datasets are available online.