Subcellular-resolution electrophysiology with CMOS-based high-density microelectrode arrays

Extracellular electrical recordings by means of microelectrode arrays complement well-established patch clamp techniques and optical or optogenetic techniques. The use of CMOS technology helps to overcome the connectivity problem of how to interface thousands of tightly-spaced electrodes, while, at the same time, it improves signal-to-noise characteristics, as signal conditioning is done on chip next to where the partially very small signals (< 10 µV) are generated.  Several different approaches relying on open-gate field-effect transistors or metal electrodes have been pursued.  There are high-density pixel-based approaches and realizations based on a switch matrix concept.  State of the art systems enable to, e.g., resolve individual action potentials propagating along axons. Applications include research in neural diseases and pharmacology.


Andreas Hierlemann completed his college education in chemistry at the University of Tübingen, Germany, and was awarded a Ph.D. degree in 1996. He then held Postdoctoral positions at Texas A & M University, College Station, TX, USA, in 1997, and at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA, in 1998. In 1999, he joined the Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where he was appointed Associate Professor in June 2004. In April 2008, he became a Full Professor in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (BSSE), ETH Zurich, Basel. His research interests include the development and application of microsensor, microfluidic, and microelectronic technologies to address questions in biology and medicine with applications in the fields of systems biology, drug testing, personalized medicine, and neuroscience. For details, see https://www.bsse.ethz.ch/bel/.