Opto-E-Dura: a Soft, Stretchable ECoG Array for Multimodal, Multi-scale Neuroscience

Abstract

Soft, stretchable materials hold great promise for the fabrication of biomedical devices due to their capacity to integrate gracefully with and conform to biological tissues. Conformal devices are of particular interest in the development of brain interfaces where rigid structures can lead to tissue damage and loss of signal quality over the lifetime of the implant. Interfaces to study brain function and dysfunction increasingly require multimodal access in order to facilitate measurement of diverse physiological signals that span the disparate temporal and spatial scales of brain dynamics. Here we present the Opto-e-Dura, a soft, stretchable, 16-channel electrocorticography array that is optically transparent. We demonstrate its compatibility with diverse optical and electrical readouts enabling multimodal studies that bridge spatial and temporal scales. The device is chronically stable for weeks, compatible with wide-field and 2-photon calcium imaging and permits the repeated insertion of penetrating multi-electrode arrays. As the variety of sensors and effectors realizable on soft, stretchable substrates expands, similar devices that provide large-scale, multimodal access to the brain will continue to improve fundamental understanding of brain function.