Fabrication and characteristics of the implantable and flexible nerve cuff electrode for neural interfaces

This paper presents the fabrication and characteristics of implantable and flexible cuff electrode for neural interfaces using conventional BioMEMS technique. In order to have cuff shape and flexibility of nerve electrode, polyimide was chosen as a substrate material. As electrode materials, platinum and iridium film were deposited with different working pressure of DC magnetron sputter. Electrical properties of both films were characterized by electrochemical spectroscopy (EIS). And also, charge storage capacity of both films were measured and calculated by cyclic voltammogram (CV). Based on experimental results, iridium film deposited at high working pressure shows excellent electrochemical properties such as a low impedance and large charge storage capacity. To evaluate a flexible nerve cuff electrode under in-vivo test, it was implanted at the sciatic nerve of white male rabbit and then connected with electromyography instrument.