A NEW METHOD FOR THE INSERTION OF MULTIPLE MICROPROBES INTO NEURAL AND MUSCULAR TISSUE, INCLUDING FIBER ELECTRODES, FINE WIRES, NEEDLES AND MICROSENSORS

We developed a new method for the insertion of thin-shaft probes into neural and muscular tissue. Axial forces for driving the probes into tissue and radial forces against buckling are both provided by a stretched elastic rubber tube in which the probe is guided outside the tissue. Various geometric arrangements of arrays with independently advanceable probes are possible. Prototypes with 7 linearly aligned fiber electrodes and computer-controlled positioning motors were successfully used in single- and multiple-unit recordings from the visual system of awake monkeys (Eckhorn et al., 1993). The method is suitable in a wide range of applications, including insertion of fine microprobe fibers and wire electrodes into brain and muscle through the skin or dura, provided that the tips of the probes are sharp and hard enough.