Ultra-thin platinum wires are playing an important role in a new technique for recording electrical activity in the brain, it emerged today (26th August).

Scientists at the University of Utah have been exploring ways to improve electrocorticography (ECoG), which usually involves imbedding electrodes in the brain.

However, the team at the Salt Lake City institution have created grids with microsized electrodes which can be placed on the surface of the brain rather than being inserted directly.

Although it still requires going into the skull, the new method is less invasive and could be used to treat cognitive and mood disorders, while also aiding drug screening and development, and neuroscience research.

"I see micro-ECoG as a disruptive technology that will eventually displace the currently used ECoG grids," said Bradley Greger, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Utah, according to Medical Product Manufacturing News.

"By using large numbers of microelectrodes, we can maximise the amount of information extracted from the brain while minimising the level of invasiveness."

The grids featured fine platinum wires embedded in a layer of silicone, which is the same setup adopted in the clinical ECoG grids currently being used for localising seizure foci.

Mr Greger also confirmed that the researchers are now looking into how they can store the increased data provided by the new process, with the hope of developing lithographic parylene micro-ECoG grids in the future.

"The key to all of this is to be able to use lithography fabrication techniques to reduce costs and increase quality and control over design parameters," he added.

In the results of the study - which appear in the Journal of Neurosurgery - the researchers also address the much-debated issue of whether electrodes on the brain could aid the control of prosthetic limbs.

Source:

Neurosurgery Researchers Have Microelectrodes on the Brain (26/08/09)

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