Profile

Semiconductor chips and neuronal systems are joined on a microscopic level. The goal of the development is hybrid processors for scientific, medical and technological applications. Neuroelectronic interfacing is characterized on three levels of increasing size and complexity: ion channels in overexpressing cells, individual nerve cells from snail and rat, and tissue from rat brain. The structure of the interfacing contacts is investigated with luminescent dyes for individual cells as well as for brain tissue. The mechanism of interfacing is studied by utilizing cells with overexpressed ion channels on the capacitors and transistors of simple silicon chips. On the basis of these results, two-way interfacing of silicon chips is implemented with individual nerve cells, with small neuronal networks and with brain tissue. CMOS chips with thousands of closely packed interfacing sites are developed and applied to obtain space- and time-resolved functional images of neuronal activity after stimulation in single cells, small neuronal networks and brain tissue. A parallel project deals with the development of voltage-sensitive dyes to monitor the activity of neurons in brain tissue: Sensitivity, biocompatibility and cell-selective staining are optimized.