Effects of carbon nanotube and conducting polymer coated microelectrodes on single-unit recordings in vitro

Neuronal networks cultured on microelectrode arrays (MEAs) have been utilized as biosensors that can detect all or nothing extracellular action potentials, or spikes. Coating the microelectrodes with carbon nanotubes (CNTs), either pristine or conjugated with a conductive polymer, has been previously reported to improve extracellular recordings presumably via reduction in microelectrode impedance. The goal of this work was to examine the basis of such improvement in vitro. Every other microelectrode of in vitro MEAs was electrochemically modified with either conducting polymer, poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) or a blend of CNT and PEDOT. Mouse cortical tissue was dissociated and cultured on the MEAs to form functional neuronal networks. The performance of the modified and unmodified microelectrodes was evaluated by activity measures such as spike rate, spike amplitude, burst duration and burst rate. We observed that the yield, defined as percentage of microelectrodes with neuronal activity, was significantly higher by 55% for modified microelectrodes compared to the unmodified sites. However, the spike rate and burst parameters were similar for modified and unmodified microelectrodes suggesting that neuronal networks were not physiologically altered by presence of PEDOT or PEDOT-CNT. Our observations from immunocytochemistry indicated that neuronal cells were more abundant in proximity to modified microelectrodes.