Printed microelectrode arrays on soft materials: from PDMS to hydrogels

Abstract

Microelectrode arrays: ink-jet printing makes it simple A cost-effective and simple approach to make soft microelectrode arrays has been developed using inkjet printing of carbon-based conductive ink. Prof Bernhard Wolfrum and his team from the Institute of Bioelectronics (ICS-8) at Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Munich School of Bioengineering at Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany inkjet print functional sensor arrays on various soft substrates for bioelectronic applications. They print carbon nanoparticle conductive ink to fabricate high-resolution microelectrode arrays on PDMS and hydrogels. The soft microelectrode arrays are used for extracellular electrophysiological recordings of action potentials from HL-1 cells. The approach presented in their paper allows for rapid prototyping of disposable sensor array structures on a variety of soft substrates for in vitro as well as in vivo applications.