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Scientists in Switzerland have developed an electrode to monitor the brain that is fitted through a small hole in the skull before it is fanned out to cover a large area of the cortex.
The work was inspired by a neurosurgeon who wanted to able to connect a large area of the surface of the brain, without removing the same amount of the patient’s skull.

The multi-disciplinary team drew on their combined expertise in soft robotics and actuation.
“We have developed a soft electrode array designed to record information from the surface of the brain and these electrodes are so soft that they can be inserted just between the surface of the brain and the skull and this could find application for recording of epilepsy seizures,”
Stephanie Lacour, a neuro-technologist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), told Reuters.

The miniaturized electrode array folds up to pass through a small hole in the skull and then spreads out flat.

“The challenge was to find the right materials, so soft materials, and then materials that are electrically active so we could make electrodes to record information from the brain which could sustain a large deformation,” Lacour said.

The electrode array has six spiraled-shaped arms, each of which is deployed one at a time over sensitive brain tissue thanks to an everting actuation mechanism inspired by soft robotics.
This mechanism emulates the growth of tree roots and can deploy an arbitrary size of electrode with a constant and minimal compression on the brain.

The electrode array has been successfully tested in a mini-pig and will now be developed by Neurosoft Bioelectronics, an EPFL spin-off.

The research, published in Science Robotics, is expected to provide minimally invasive solutions for epilepsy patients.

SOURCE:
REUTERS / EPFL/ALAIN HERZOG

PRODUCTION:
RACHID OUBAHRI