The neurochip: a new multielectrode device for stimulating and recording from cultured neurons.

The neurochip is a silicon micromachined device upon which cultured mammalian neurons can be continuously and individually monitored and stimulated. The neurochip is based upon a 4 x 4 array of metal electrodes, each of which has a caged well structure designed to hold a single mature cell body while permitting normal outgrowth of neural processes. We demonstrate that this device is capable of maintaining cell survival, and that the electrodes can both record and stimulate electrical activity in individual cells with no crosstalk between channels.