2 Kinds of Microelectrode Arrays (IMAGE)
Caption
A new University of Utah study shows that arrays of tiny electrodes placed between the skull and the brain can accurately detect brain signals that command arm movements -- raising hope for longer-lived devices to help amputees control bionic arms and paralyzed people operate computers with their thoughts. These two images show two kinds of microelectrode arrays, known and microECoGs, that were placed on the brains of severe epilepsy patients. The patients already had parts of their skulls removed temporarily for placement of larger ECoG electrodes, which are used to locate and treat the brain area responsible for their seizures. These larger, metallic, button-like electrodes are numbered in both images. The left image also shows two microECoG arrays, each with 16 microelectrodes connected to microwires that pass through the orange and green tubes. Because the arrays are made of fine wires embedded in clear silicone, photo-editing software was used to draw in their outlines in both images. The right image shows one microECoG array with 32 individual microelectrodes, connected with microwires entering via a clear tube from the bottom of the image. The green wires are connected to the large, conventional ECoG electrodes.
Credit
University of Utah Department of Neurosurgery
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