Optimizing Multi-Well Micro-Electrode Array (MW-MEA) Design to Study the Electrophysiology of Neurons

Pishgar, Roofia Sara

Optimizing Multi-Well Micro-Electrode Array (MW-MEA) Design to Study the Electrophysiology of Neurons

dc.contributor.advisor	Dalton, Colin
dc.contributor.advisor	Syed, Naweed I.
dc.contributor.author	Pishgar, Roofia Sara
dc.contributor.committeemember	Teskey, G. Campbell
dc.contributor.committeemember	Dunn, Jeff F.
dc.contributor.committeemember	Murari, Kartikeya
dc.contributor.committeemember	Chu, Angus
dc.contributor.committeemember	Frayne, Richard
dc.date	2020-11
dc.date.accessioned	2020-07-31T17:46:25Z
dc.date.available	2020-07-31T17:46:25Z
dc.date.issued	2020-07-27
dc.description.abstract	Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) have been widely utilized to measure and study neuronal activities, both in vitro and in vivo. The main focus of this study was to optimize the MEA design to improve the recording efficiency from a group of cells in an area to have a better understanding of what is happening over a larger network. This study included three phases: investigating the effectiveness of a preliminary version of multi-well MEA design with two electrode types featuring a different number of wells (5 and 6) and diameter of wells (15 and 20 μm); 2) optimization of the first design with the second version of multi-well MEA, featuring a wider range of diameters and number of wells on each electrode; 3) investigating the adaptability of rigid glass-based MW-MEAs to flexible substrates. The results of this study showed that electrodes with 6-wells had the ability to capture stronger signals occasionally, while electrodes with 5-wells could consistently record signals, albeit with less peak-to-peak amplitudes. It was found out that the effect of diameter and number of wells and their correlation (i.e., the open surface area of the electrode, A) on the signal to noise ratio (SNR) were significant and thus should all be regarded as important parameters when designing MEAs. Cell signal recording was performed on the second MEA design, using snail brain neurons. Snail brain neurons were used to limit the complexity of neuronal recordings and to be able to focus the analysis on the electrode characteristics. However, due to the COVID-19 related shutdown, the snail recording could not be pursued further in the lab. The study on the suitability of using flexible substrates instead of the traditional rigid glass substrate to make a flexible MEA (fMEA) showed oxidation, electrode degradation, and formation of residues in long-term mice cell plating. It indicated the incompatibility of the materials used with living cells. In parallel, a gold wire bonding process was attempted to create 3D microelectrodes on the fMEA. 3D-fMEA fabrication proved to be challenging due to several difficulties in the wire bonding process, used for converting the planar fMEA to 3D-fMEA. Thus, to further the study on the effectiveness of fMEA and 3D-fMEA, the choice of material and fabrication protocol of fMEA and 3D-fMEA needs further investigation.	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Pishgar, R. S. (2020). Optimizing Multi-Well Micro-Electrode Array (MW-MEA) Design to Study the Electrophysiology of Neurons (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.	en_US
dc.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/38053
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1880/112350
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.publisher.faculty	Schulich School of Engineering	en_US
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary	en
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.	en_US
dc.subject	Microelectrode arrays (MEAs), in-vitro electrophysiology, extracellular recording, signal to noise ratio (SNR), multi-well MEAs (MW-MEAs), brain cell activity	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Neuroscience	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Engineering--Biomedical	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Engineering--Electronics and Electrical	en_US
dc.title	Optimizing Multi-Well Micro-Electrode Array (MW-MEA) Design to Study the Electrophysiology of Neurons	en_US
dc.type	master thesis	en_US
thesis.degree.discipline	Engineering – Biomedical	en_US
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary	en_US
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)	en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopy	true	en_US