Wireless hippocampal neural recording via a multiple input RF receiver to construct place-specific firing fields

This paper reports scientifically meaningful in vivo experiments using a 32-channel wireless neural recording system (WINeR). The WINeR system is divided into transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) parts. On the Tx side, we had WINeR-6, a system-on-a-chip (SoC) that operated based on time division multiplexing (TDM) of pulse width modulated (PWM) samples. The chip was fabricated in a 0.5-μm CMOS process, occupying 4.9 × 3.3 mm² and consuming 15 mW from ±1.5V supplies. The Rx used two antennas with separate pathways to down-convert the RF signal from a large area. A time-to-digital converter (TDC) in an FPGA converted the PWM pulses into digitized samples. In order to further increase the wireless coverage area and eliminate blind spots within a large experimental arena, two receivers were synchronized. The WINeR system was used to record epileptic activities from a rat that was injected with tetanus toxin (TT) in the dorsal hippocampus. In a different in vivo experiment, place-specific firing fields of place cells, which are parts of the hippocampal-dependent memory, were mapped from a series of behavioral experiments from a rat running in a circular track. Results from the same animal were compared against a commercial hard-wired recording system to evaluate the quality of the wireless recordings.