Design and MEMS Microfabrication of an Optrode for Combined Optogenetics and Electrophysiology Studies

Optogenetics is a biological technique that uses light to control cells in living tissues, typically neurons, that have been genetically modified to express light-sensitive ion channels. Using this technique, neuroscientists can investigate the neural circuits underlying neurological diseases with a higher spatio-temporal resolution when...

Cardiac mapping on ex vivo perfused porcine slaughterhouse hearts: A Langendorff perfusion protocol for epicardial mapping on isolated beating hearts

Cardiac mapping techniques, in which an electrode-array is placed directly on the surface of the heart, were developed to gain a better insight in the underlying electropathology of cardiac arrhythmias. This procedure is performed in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, but here not all relevant cardiac structures and conduction inquiries can be...

Microelectronic design of a pseudo voltage clamp for a 0.18um CMOS-based mesoscale neural interface for intracellular in-vitro recording and stimulation

The need to understand how the brain works has sparked interest in electrode arrays to record neural signals. Intracellular recordings with nanoelectrodes that penetrate the cell allow better signal quality and additional functions such as voltage clamping to set the neuron's transmembrane voltage. The voltage clamp aims to facilitate the...

Biophysical mechanisms responsible for ultrasound neuromodulation in bilayer lipid membranes: Enabling the research that uncovers the mysterious interactions between ultrasound and neurons

Medical technology has seen great progress over the last centuries, developing increasingly more specialised therapy to benefit human health. The rise of the pharmaceutical industry and the research it drives are contributors to this success. However, in humanity's attempt to tackle more and more complex health issues, the conventional methods...