MULTICHANNEL MICROELECTRODES FOR NEURAL RECORDING

A MULTICHANNEL MICROELECTRODE THAT CAN MONITOR POTENTIALS FROM MANY NEARBY NEURONS SIMULTANEOUSLY WILL BE HIGHLY BENEFICIAL TO RESEARCHERS IN NEUROSCIENCE. SUCH A TOOL WILLALLOW HIGHLY RFFICIENT DATA COLLECTION AND THE STUDY OF NEURAL GROUP INTERACTIONS DURING ANIMAL BEHAVIOR. THE AIM OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO DESIGN, DEVELOP AND EVALUATE A MULTICHANNEL MICROELECTRODE SYSTEM FOR MASS PRODUCTION AND COMMERCIALIZATION TO THE NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOMEDICAL COMMUNITIES. THIS MULTICHANNEL NEURAL RECORDING SYSTEM IS CALLED "PRONG" WHICH STANDS FOR "PARALLEL RECORDING OF NEURAL GROUPS". IT INCLUDES A 24 CHANNEL MICROELECTRODE, A SPECIAL CONNECTOR AND A 24 CHANNEL HYBRID PREAMPLIFIER. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL MODIFY A WORKING PROTOTYPE OF THEPRONG SYSTEM SO THAT IT CAN BE CHEAPLY MANUFACTURED WITHIN THE COMMERCIAL STANDARDS OF CIRCUIT BOARD FABRICATION, INTEGRATED CIRCUIT FABRICATION AND HYBRID CIRCUIT FABRICATION.