THE ADVENT OF MULTIELECTRODE RECORDING ARRAYS HAS CREATED A NEED FOR A COMPUTER-BASED DATA ACQUISITION/SIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEM THAT EXTRACTS NEUROELECTRIC SINGLE-UNIT ACTIVITY PERTINENT TO NEUROPHYSIOLOGISTS.

THE ADVENT OF MULTIELECTRODE RECORDING ARRAYS HAS CREATED A NEED FOR A COMPUTER-BASED DATA ACQUISITION/SIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEM THAT EXTRACTS NEUROELECTRIC SINGLE-UNIT ACTIVITY PERTINENT TO NEUROPHYSIOLOGISTS. SUCH ARRAYS ARE UNDER DEVELOPMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. THE ARRAYS ARE STATE-OF-THE-ART DEVICES FABRICATED BY MICROELECTRONIC AND SILICON MICROMACHINING TECHNOLOGY. THE DEVICE OFFERS UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPLORE THE COMMUNICATIVE PROCESSES OF SIMULTANEOUS ACTIVITY OF SINGLE NEURONS WITH POSSIBLE FUTURE APPLICATIONS IN NEURAL PROSTHESES. HOWEVER, THERE ARE NO EXISTING COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS WHICH CAN INTERFACE AND COLLECT THE VAST AMOUNT OF NEURAL DATA GENERATED BY THESE ARRAYS. THE PHASE I OBJECTIVES ARE TO IDENTIFY MULTIELECTRODE NEURAL DATA CHARACTERISTICS UNIQUE TO SYSTEM DESIGN, FORMULATE SYSTEM COMPONENT FUNCTIONAL THE LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM FOR MULTIELECTRODE ACQUISITION, STORAGE, AND ANALYSIS OF NEURAL DATA WHICH PROMOTES WIDESPREAD USE BY NEUROPHYSIOLOGISTS. SUCH A SYSTEM WOULD OFFER EXCEPTIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR SOPHISTICATED STUDIES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM WHERE KNOWLEDGE OF ACTIVITY ON SEVERAL SIMULTANEOUS CHANNELS IS REQUIRED. THE SYSTEM COMMERCIALIZATION WILL PROVIDE THESE OPPORTUNITIES. PHASE II WILL INVOLVE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SYSTEM COMPONENTS, SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, SYSTEM EVALUATION, AND USER DOCUMENTATION DEVELOPMENT.