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Multielectrode arrays (MEAs) or microelectrode arrays are devices that contain multiple plates or shanks through which neural signals are obtained or delivered, essentially serving as neural interfaces that connect neurons to electronic circuitry. There are two general classes of MEAs: implantable MEAs, used ''in vivo'', and non-implantable MEAs, used ''in vitro''. ==Theory== Neurons and muscle cells create ion currents through their membranes when excited, causing a change in voltage between the inside and the outside of the cell. When recording, the electrodes on an MEA transduce the change in voltage from the environment carried by ions into currents carried by electrons (electronic currents). When stimulating, electrodes transduce electronic currents into ionic currents through the media. This triggers the voltage-gated ion channels on the membranes of the excitable cells, causing the cell to depolarize and trigger an action potential if it is a neuron or a twitch if it is a muscle cell. The size and shape of a recorded signal depend upon several factors: the nature of the medium in which the cell or cells are located (e.g. the medium's electrical conductivity, capacitance, and homogeneity); the nature of contact between the cells and the MEA electrode (e.g. area of contact and tightness); the nature of the MEA electrode itself (e.g. its geometry, impedance, and noise); the analog signal processing (e.g. the system's gain, bandwidth, and behavior outside of cutoff frequencies); and the data sampling properties (e.g. sampling rate and digital signal processing).〔Boven K-H, Fejtl M, Möller A, Nisch W, Stett A. On Micro-Electrode Array Revival. In: Baudry M, Taketani M, eds. ''Advances in Network Electrophysiology Using Multi-Electrode Arrays.'' New York: Springer Press; 2006: 24-37.〕 For the recording of a single cell that partially covers a planar electrode, the voltage at the contact pad is approximately equal to the voltage of the overlapping region of the cell and electrode multiplied by the ratio the surface area of the overlapping region to the area of the entire electrode, or: assuming the area around an electrode is well-insulated and has a very small capacitance associated with it.〔 The equation above, however, relies on modeling the electrode, cells, and their surroundings as an equivalent circuit diagram. An alternative means of predicting cell-electrode behavior is by modeling the system using a geometry-based finite element analysis in an attempt to circumvent the limitations of oversimplifying the system in a lumped circuit element diagram.〔Buitenweg JR, Rutten WL, and Marani E. 2003. Geometry-based finite element modeling of the electrical contact between a cultured neuron and a microelectrode. ''IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 50'': 501-509.〕 An MEA can be used to perform electrophysiological experiments on tissue slices or dissociated cell cultures. With acute tissue slices, the connections between the cells within the tissue slices prior to extraction and plating are more or less preserved, while the intercellular connections in dissociated cultures are destroyed prior to plating. With dissociated neuronal cultures, the neurons spontaneously form networks.〔Potter SM. 2001. Distributed processing in cultured neuronal networks. ''Prog Brain Res 130'': 49-62.〕 It can be seen that the voltage amplitude an electrode experiences is inversely related to the distance from which a cell depolarizes.〔Pine J. A History of MEA Development. In: Baudry M, Taketani M, eds. ''Advances in Network Electrophysiology Using Multi-Electrode Arrays.'' New York: Springer Press; 2006:3-23.〕 Thus, it may be necessary for the cells to be cultured or otherwise placed as close to the electrodes as possible. With tissue slices, a layer of electrically passive dead cells form around the site of incision due to edema.〔Heuschkel MO, Wirth C, Steidl EM, Buisson B. Development of 3-D Multi-Electrode Arrays for Use with Acute Tissue Slices. In: Baudry M, Taketani M, eds. ''Advances in Network Electrophysiology Using Multi-Electrode Arrays.'' New York: Springer Press; 2006:69-111.〕 A way to deal with this is by fabricating an MEA with three-dimensional electrodes fabricated by masking and chemical etching. These 3-D electrodes penetrate the dead cell layer of the slice tissue, decreasing the distance between live cells and the electrodes.〔Thiebaud P, deRooij NF, Koudelka-Hep M, Stoppini L. 1997. Microelectrode arrays for electrophysiological monitoring of hippocampal organotypic slice cultures. ''IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 44'': 1159-63.〕 In dissociated cultures, proper adherence of the cells to the MEA substrate is important for getting robust signals. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Multielectrode array」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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