Microfluidic platform for neurotransmitter sensing based on cyclic voltammetry and dielectrophoresis for in vitro experiments

This paper presents a new microfluidic platform that can simultaneously measure and locally modulate neurotransmitter concentration in a neuron network. This work focuses on the development of a first prototype including a potentiostat and electrode functionalization to detect several neurotransmitter's simultaneously. We tested dopamine as proof of concept to validate functionality. The system is based on 320 bidirectional electrode array for dielectrophoretic manipulation and cyclic voltammetry. Each electrode is connected to a mechanical multiplexer in order to reduce noise interference and fully isolate the electrode. The multiplexing rate is 476 kHz and each electrode can drive a signal with an amplitude of 60 V pp for dielectrophoretic manipulation.