Flexible Fiber Probe for Efficient Neural Stimulation and Detection.

Abstract

Functional probes are a leading contender for the recognition and manipulation of nervous behavior and are characterized by substantial scientific and technological potential. Despite the recent development of functional neural probes, a flexible biocompatible probe unit that allows for long‐term simultaneous stimulation and signaling is still an important task. Here, a category of flexible tiny multimaterial fiber probes (<0.3 g) is described in which the metal electrodes are regularly embedded inside a biocompatible polymer fiber with a double‐clad optical waveguide by thermal drawing. Significantly, this arrangement enables great improvement in mechanical properties, achieves high optical transmission (>90%), and effectively minimizes the impedance (by up to one order of magnitude) of the probe. This ability allows to realize long‐term (at least 10 weeks) simultaneous optical stimulation and neural recording at the single‐cell level in behaving mice with signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR = 30 dB) that is more than 6 times that of the benchmark probe such as an all‐polymer fiber.