The Robotics Institute

Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute

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Abstract

Direct electrical communication between living nervous systems and external devices would allow a wide variety of clinical and engineering applications. This neuro-robotic interface has not yet been fully achieved because existing interface systems cannot establish sufficiently close contact between neurons and communicating electrodes. We present here the synthesis and testing of a new class of conductive polymer that can be used to coat metal electrodes and achieve the necessary close contact. The polymer coatings can be made to incorporate biological adhesion proteins to maximize biocompatibility. Neurons extracted from mouse and rat brains were able to attach to the coatings, survive beyond five days, and grow out long, communicating processes. These new polymer films offer the potential for a new level of communication between robotic devices and the nervous system and may eventually make a high-bandwidth interface a reality.

Notes

Associated Lab(s) / Group(s): Neurobotics Laboratory and Microelectromechanical Systems Laboratory

Associated Project(s): Silicon/Neuron Interface

Number of pages: 6

Note: to appear

Text Reference

Alik Sunil Widge, M. Jeffries-El, Carl Lagenaur, Victor Weedn, and Yoky Matsuoka, "Conductive Polymer 'Molecular Wires' For Neuro-Robotic Interfaces," Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA '04), May, 2004.

BibTeX Reference

@inproceedings{Widge_2004_4635,
   author = "Alik Sunil Widge and M. Jeffries-El and Carl Lagenaur and Victor Weedn and Yoky Matsuoka",
   title = "Conductive Polymer 'Molecular Wires' For Neuro-Robotic Interfaces",
   booktitle = "Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA '04)",
   month = "May",
   year = "2004",
   Notes = "to appear"
}

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