Miniature PZT actuated microdrive for chronic neural recording in small animals

신경신호 기록을 위한 PZT기반 마이크로 드라이브

Microdrive with high precision and light mass enough to install on mouse head was fabricated for recording the reliable signal of neuron cell to understand the brain study. The proposed microdrive has three H-form PZT actuators and its guide structure. The microdrive operation principle is based on the well known inchworm principle. The synchronization of three PZT actuators is able to produce the linear motion along the guide structure. Our proposed microdrive has a precise accuracy of about 100nm and a long stroke of about 5mm. The electrode which is used for the recording of the action potential of the neuron cell was fixed at one of PZT actuators. The proposed microdrive was suited to acquisition of signals from in vivo extra-cellular single-unit recoding. On the condition of the anesthetized mouse, the single-unit signals could be recorded by using the proposed microdrive. In addition, applying the PZT microdrive to an alert mouse, we try to implant it on a mouse brain skull to explore single neuron firing.