MEAs and restrictive growth

An automated microdrop delivery system for neuronal networknext term patterning on microelectrode arraysElisabetta Macisa, Mariateresa Tedescoa, Paolo Massobrioa, Roberto Raiteria and Sergio MartinoiaCorresponding Author Contact Information, a, E-mail The Corresponding Author, E-mail The Corresponding AuthoraNeuroengineering and Bio-Nanotechnology Group (NBT Group), Department of Biophysical and Electronic Engineering (DIBE), University of Genova, Via Opera Pia 11a, 16145 Genova, ItalyReceived 31 July 2006; revised 12 October 2006; accepted 13 October 2006. Available online 1 December 2006.AbstractThe aim of this work is to present a new technique for defining interconnected sub-populations of cultured neurons on microelectrode arrays (MEAs). An automated microdrop delivery technique allows to design and realize spatially distributed neuronal ensembles by depositing sub-nanoliter volumes of adhesion molecules in which neurons grow and develop. Electrophysiological tests demonstrate that functionally interconnected clusters are obtained and experimental results (both spontaneous and stimulus evoked activity recordings) attesting the feasibility of the proposed approach are presented. By means of the automated system, different and specific architectures can be easily designed and functionally studied. In the presented system the speed of drop deposition is about 30 drops/min; the mean diameter is 147 μm; typical cell survival time is 4–5 weeks. By changing drop size and spacing, investigations about how the previous termnetworknext term dynamics is related to the previous termnetworknext term structure can be systematically carried out.Keywords: Neuronal patterning; Cultured cortical neurons; Microdrop deposition; Ink-jet deposition; Microelectrode array (MEA); Neuronal electrophysiological activity

ScienceDirect - Journal of Neuroscience Methods : An automated microdrop delivery system for neuronal network patterning on microelectrode arrays