Stretchable electrodes for neuroprosthetic interfaces

We have developed a stretchable gold microelectrode array (MEA) that can withstand the torsion requirements needed for implantable neuroprosthetic interface applications. The array is composed of thin gold (sub-100 nm thick) electrodes on a soft, 120 mu m thick polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) silicone substrate with a patterned encapsulation layer. The impedance of individual electrodes was measured as a function of extreme torsion applied to the device, and was found to be relatively stable in the 15-75 k Omega range (f = 1kHz), and remained stable after 1000 torsion cycles.