Ozaki Takashi, Ohta Norikazu, Ma Jiaju, Hirano Minoru
Frontier Management Office, Toyota Central R&D Labs. Inc., Nagakute, Japan.
Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2025 Jul 22;13:1596009. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1596009. eCollection 2025.
This paper presents a 360°, size-adjustable microelectrode array (MEA) system for the long-term electrophysiological monitoring of cerebral organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells. The system consists of eight independently positionable multielectrode probes, each carrying eight electrodes arranged vertically. This configuration resulted in 64 recording channels surrounding the organoid. The multielectrode probes were mounted on custom-designed miniature manipulators with three degrees of freedom. This setup enabled positioning and contact with organoids of varying sizes (approximately 1-3.7 mm in diameter). The design allowed circumferential access and facilitated standard incubator-based cultivation without disrupting the recording setup. Fabricated using flexible printed circuit technology, this MEA system offers relatively low production costs. It is also amenable to widespread implementation in laboratory settings. Experimental results demonstrated the successful recording of neuronal activity, including spike detection and signal stability, over 2 weeks of continuous organoid culture. These results suggests that the three-dimensional system provides broad spatial coverage and supports long-term monitoring for basic biomedical research. It also holds potential for future applications such as biohybrid computing.
本文介绍了一种360°、尺寸可调的微电极阵列（MEA）系统，用于对源自人类多能干细胞的脑类器官进行长期电生理监测。该系统由八个可独立定位的多电极探针组成，每个探针带有八个垂直排列的电极。这种配置在类器官周围形成了64个记录通道。多电极探针安装在具有三个自由度的定制微型操纵器上。这种设置能够对不同大小（直径约1-3.7毫米）的类器官进行定位和接触。该设计允许进行圆周访问，并便于在标准培养箱中进行培养，而不会干扰记录设置。该MEA系统采用柔性印刷电路技术制造，生产成本相对较低。它也适合在实验室环境中广泛应用。实验结果表明，在连续2周的类器官培养过程中，成功记录了神经元活动，包括尖峰检测和信号稳定性。这些结果表明，该三维系统提供了广泛的空间覆盖范围，并支持基础生物医学研究的长期监测。它在诸如生物混合计算等未来应用中也具有潜力。
