ELECTRICAL-STIMULATION AND RECORDING FROM CULTURED NEURONS USING A PLANAR ELECTRODE ARRAY

Planar electrode arrays were fabricated using modern semiconductor technology. Mouse and chick dorsal root ganglion cells were successfully cultured on the surface of indium tin oxide electrode patterns. Contact between the neurites and the substrate electrodes was established by exploiting the surface properties of the culture substrates to guide neurite outgrowth. The guided neurites were stimulated electrically using the substrate electrodes and cell responses were recorded. intracellularly and extracellularly. Depolarization of the cell membrane as well as generation of action potentials in response to the stimulation could be observed. The results suggest that this type of planar electrode array could be a useful tool for non-invasive electrophysiological measurements.