Open-source automated system for assembling a high-density microwire neural recording array

This work presents the design and implementation of an automated system for the assembly of microwire-style neural recording arrays. Intracortical recording interfaces increasingly require high channel counts, fine and compliant electrodes, and densely packed recording sites in order to extract more useful information from the brain with minimal immune response or tissue damage, enabling chronic recording. Designing and building microwire arrays to meet these requirements presents an assembly challenge that we have addressed through automated microassembly. We demonstrate a low-cost, open-source system capable of automated sub-micron positioning and feeding of 6.7 μm microfilaments through 20 μm through-silicon vias to construct a high-channel-count ultra-fine microwire neural recording array. Also included is a comparison of common micropositioning techniques, with an emphasis on accuracy, time, and monetary cost to inform the design of similar micropositioning systems.