Improving Flexible Neural Probe Delivery Published in Nature: Microsystems & Nanoengineering

July 9, 2020

a Photograph of entire assembly including the flexible polyimide array mounted on a UNCD shuttle. PCB is secured by a removable jacket that slides in a track of the shuttle jig. The insertion motor (not shown) is connected to the 3D printed shuttle jig. b Top view of PEG-coated UNCD shuttle with coating 1–2 µm thick. c Polyimide-based flexible array with 60 recording sites and (inset) zoomed view of the array tip

BME Prof. Tim Bruns, Affiliated Faculty members Euisik Yoon and John Seymour and their labs have developed a novel diamond shuttle to deliver a flexible neural probe that reduces surrounding tissue compression and blood vessel damage. The collaboration between faculty and students in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering included BME PhD student Zach Sperry. The new shuttle could hopefully be used to deliver neural probes that improve accuracy with less damage and disruption to the nervous system circuitry. These findings were published in Microsystems & Nanoengineering on June 1st. See the full article “Novel diamond shuttle to deliver flexible neural probe with reduced tissue compression” at the Nature website.