Nature Communications (Jan 2024)

Shape-changing electrode array for minimally invasive large-scale intracranial brain activity mapping

  • Shiyuan Wei,
  • Anqi Jiang,
  • Hongji Sun,
  • Jingjun Zhu,
  • Shengyi Jia,
  • Xiaojun Liu,
  • Zheng Xu,
  • Jing Zhang,
  • Yuanyuan Shang,
  • Xuefeng Fu,
  • Gen Li,
  • Puxin Wang,
  • Zhiyuan Xia,
  • Tianzi Jiang,
  • Anyuan Cao,
  • Xiaojie Duan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44805-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 1 – 16

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Large-scale brain activity mapping is important for understanding the neural basis of behaviour. Electrocorticograms (ECoGs) have high spatiotemporal resolution, bandwidth, and signal quality. However, the invasiveness and surgical risks of electrode array implantation limit its application scope. We developed an ultrathin, flexible shape-changing electrode array (SCEA) for large-scale ECoG mapping with minimal invasiveness. SCEAs were inserted into cortical surfaces in compressed states through small openings in the skull or dura and fully expanded to cover large cortical areas. MRI and histological studies on rats proved the minimal invasiveness of the implantation process and the high chronic biocompatibility of the SCEAs. High-quality micro-ECoG activities mapped with SCEAs from male rodent brains during seizures and canine brains during the emergence period revealed the spatiotemporal organization of different brain states with resolution and bandwidth that cannot be achieved using existing noninvasive techniques. The biocompatibility and ability to map large-scale physiological and pathological cortical activities with high spatiotemporal resolution, bandwidth, and signal quality in a minimally invasive manner offer SCEAs as a superior tool for applications ranging from fundamental brain research to brain-machine interfaces.