On the Way to Large-Scale and High-Resolution Brain-Chip Interfacing

Brain-chip-interfaces (BCHIs) are hybrid entities where chips and nerve cells establish a close physical interaction allowing the transfer of information in one or both directions. Typical examples are represented by multisite-recording chips interfaced to cultured neurons, cultured/acute brain slices, or implanted in vivo. This paper provides an overview on recent achievements in our laboratory in the field of BCHIs leading to enhancement of signals transmission from nerve cells to chip or from chip to nerve cells with an emphasis on in vivo interfacing, either in terms of signal-to-noise ratio or of spatiotemporal resolution. Oxide-insulated chips featuring large-scale and high-resolution arrays of stimulation and recording elements are presented as a promising technology for high spatiotemporal resolution interfacing, as recently demonstrated by recordings obtained from hippocampal slices and brain cortex in implanted animals. Finally, we report on an automated tool for processing and analysis of acquired signals by BCHIs.