Integrated neural interfaces

Electronic interfaces to the nervous system are increasingly important for experimental neuroscience as well as medical diagnostics and therapies. Existing neural interfaces are limited, however, by the use of passive recording and stimulation devices that are connected to active electronics on separate physical platforms through large amounts of passive wiring. This manuscript proposes a new approach to integrate active electronics directly with neural recording and stimulation devices using state-of-the-art silicon processing, assembly, and packaging techniques. System concepts are described for fully wireless operation as well as wireline interfacing through FDA-cleared implantable leads and connectors. The approach offers a more modular paradigm of neural interface design, which is greatly needed as the demand for higher channel counts grows.