Tiny Ultra-Flexible Endovascular Probe Records Deep-Brain Activity without Cranial Surgery

Researchers at Stanford University (Stanford, CA, USA) have designed ultra-flexible micro-endovascular (MEV) probes that can be accurately delivered to deep-brain areas through the blood vessels. The researchers built a minute, flexible, mesh-like electronic recording device that can be mounted onto a flexible microcatheter and implanted into sub-100-micron scale blood vessels in the brain's inner areas. Once inserted, the device expands like a stent to record neuronal signals across the vascular wall without causing damage to the brain or its blood vessels.

To assess the potential of the MEV probe in vivo, the researchers implanted the injectable probe into the vascular system of rat brains. The MEV probe demonstrated the capability to measure local field potentials and single-neuron activity in the cortex and olfactory bulb. Furthermore, the implanted devices demonstrated long-term stability, did not cause significant changes to cerebral blood flow or rat behavior, and triggered a minimal immune response. According to the researchers, future versions of these devices could even offer customized therapies to patients by recording and decoding their neural activity, followed by delivery of the appropriate modulatory stimuli.

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