NEURAL DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM FOR MULTIELECTRODE ARRAYS

MULTIELECTRODE RECORDING ARRAYS THAT EXTRACT SIMULTANEOUS NEUROELECTRIC ACTIVITY HAVE CREATED A NEED FOR A COMPUTER-BASED DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM. THE ARRAYS INCORPORATE ON-CHIP CIRCUITRY FOR BUFFERING AND MULTIPLEXINGNEURAL SIGNALS FROM SEVERAL RECORDING SITES. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM GIVES NEUROPHYSIOLOGISTS THE CAPABILITY TO INVESTIGATE NEURAL COMMUNICATIVE PROCESSES, FORM NEURAL PROCESS NETWORK MODELS, AND FACILITATE NEURAL PROSTHESES DEVELOPMENT. THE PHASE I PROPOSAL IMPLEMENTS AN ACQUISITION SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE BASED ON AN INNOVATIVE APPLICATION OF A DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR BOARD AS A PREPROCESSOR TO A HOST COMPUTER. THE SYSTEM DESIGN IS DEVELOPED AROUND THE UNIQUE RECORDING PROPERTIES OF MULTIELECTRODE ARRAYS TO RECORD SINGLE-UNIT ACTION POTENTIALS SIMULTANEOUSLY ON SEVERAL RECORDING SITES. THE SYSTEM'S CAPABILITIES AND LIMITATIONS WILL ALSO BE ASSESSED TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY TO PERFORM REAL-TIME SIGNAL PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS OF MULTICHANNEL NEURAL DATA FOR AN ADVANCED PHASE II SYSTEM. SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION PROVIDES A COMMERCIAL SYSTEM THAT FILLS A GAP IN NEUROPHYSIOLOGY INSTRUMENTATION. IN ADDITION, IT PROVIDES A TOOL TO COLLECT AND CONDUCT MORE SOPHISTICATED ANALYSIS OF MULTIELECTRODE DATA.