Design Proposal of Imaging Activities of Cultured Neural Network on a Silicon Substrate with Neural-Electronic-Optical Integrated Microsystem

Multielectrode arrays have currently been widely used as neural-network research tools. In this paper, we propose a novel mixed integrated sensor array microsystem combining cultured biological neurons, silicon integrated circuits and optical components together on a single silicon substrate. Using the light emitting property of GaAs-LED dependent on current passing from the recorded action potentials signals by a multielectrode-array in situ, we are able to characterize the neural activities of the cultured neural networks directly with a visible image displayed by a monitoring CCD camera. Researchers may use various ready image process tools for experimental data analysis to directly observe results