Focused ultrasound neuromodulation on a multiwell MEA

Journal article (2022)

Authors

M. Saccher Electronic Components, Technology and Materials - EEMCS
S. Kawasaki Electronic Components, Technology and Materials - EEMCS
Vasiliki Giagka Bio-Electronics - EEMCS , Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM
R. Dekker Electronic Components, Technology and Materials - EEMCS , Philips Research
Research Group
Electronic Components, Technology and Materials (EEMCS) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2022 M. Saccher, S. Kawasaki, Martina Proietti Onori, Geeske M. van Woerden, Vasiliki Giagka, R. Dekker
DOI
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https://doi.org/10.1186/s42234-021-00083-7
OA-Fund TU Delft
More Info
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Published Date

2022

Language

English

Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Department

Microelectronics

Research Group

Electronic Components, Technology and Materials

Abstract

Background
Microelectrode arrays (MEA) enable the measurement and stimulation of the electrical activity of cultured cells. The integration of other neuromodulation methods will significantly enhance the application range of MEAs to study their effects on neurons. A neuromodulation method that is recently gaining more attention is focused ultrasound neuromodulation (FUS), which has the potential to treat neurological disorders reversibly and precisely.

Methods
In this work, we present the integration of a focused ultrasound delivery system with a multiwell MEA plate.

Results
The ultrasound delivery system was characterised by ultrasound pressure measurements, and the integration with the MEA plate was modelled with finite-element simulations of acoustic field parameters. The results of the simulations were validated with experimental visualisation of the ultrasound field with Schlieren imaging. In addition, the system was tested on a murine primary hippocampal neuron culture, showing that ultrasound can influence the activity of the neurons.

Conclusions
Our system was demonstrated to be suitable for studying the effect of focused ultrasound on neuronal cultures. The system allows reproducible experiments across the wells due to its robustness and simplicity of operation.