A 3D Engineered Platform for Functional Monitoring of in Vitro Brain Models

This paper reports a three-dimensional (3D) platform for functional monitoring of 3D engineered brain-tissue in vitro, which is currently limited by traditional 2D MicroElectrodes Arrays (MEAs) devices. The miniaturized device, based on an integrated flexible probe (z axis) coupled to a MEA glass chip (x and y axis), can capture 3D network electrophysiology of an in vitro neural cell assembly. We present recordings of spontaneous electrical activity across the volume of a controlled 3D, millimeter-sized neuronal network for up to four months. Our concept enables a new class of functional mapping arrays for in vitro models of three-dimensional electrically active tissue.