Micromachines 2011, 2(4), 394-409; doi:10.3390/mi2040394
Article

All Titanium Microelectrode Array for Field Potential Measurements from Neurons and Cardiomyocytes—A Feasibility Study

Tomi Ryynänen 1,* email, Ville Kujala 2 email, Laura Ylä-Outinen 2 email, Ismo Korhonen 2 email, Jarno M.A. Tanskanen 3 email, Pasi Kauppinen 3 email, Katriina Aalto-Setälä 2,4 email, Jari Hyttinen 3 email, Erja Kerkelä 2,† email, Susanna Narkilahti 2 email and Jukka Lekkala 1 email
1 Department of Automation Science and Engineering, Tampere University of Technology, Korkeakoulunkatu 3, FI-33720 Tampere, Finland 2 Institute for Biomedical Technology, University of Tampere, Biokatu 12, FI-33520 Tampere, Finland 3 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tampere University of Technology, Biokatu 6, FI-33520 Tampere, Finland 4 Heart Center, Tampere University Hospital, Biokatu 6, FI-33520 Tampere, Finland † Current address: Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Kivihaantie 7, FI-00310 Helsinki, Finland
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 19 September 2011; in revised form: 19 October 2011 / Accepted: 20 October 2011 / Published: 28 October 2011
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomedical Microdevices)
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Abstract: In this paper, we describe our all-titanium microelectrode array (tMEA) fabrication process and show that uncoated titanium microelectrodes are fully applicable to measuring field potentials (FPs) from neurons and cardiomyocytes. Many novel research questions require custom designed microelectrode configurations different from the few commercially available ones. As several different configurations may be needed especially in a prototyping phase, considerable time and cost savings in MEA fabrication can be achieved by omitting the additional low impedance microelectrode coating, usually made of titanium nitride (TiN) or platinum black, and have a simplified and easily processable MEA structure instead. Noise, impedance, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) characterization were performed to our uncoated titanium microelectrodes and commercial TiN coated microelectrodes and were supplemented by FP measurements from neurons and cardiomyocytes on both platforms. Despite the increased noise levels compared to commercial MEAs our tMEAs produced good FP measurements from neurons and cardiomyocytes. Thus, tMEAs offer a cost effective platform to develop custom designed electrode configurations and more complex monitoring environments.
Keywords: microelectrode array (MEA); measurement noise; impedance; stem cell; field potential measurement; titanium

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MDPI and ACS Style

Ryynänen, T.; Kujala, V.; Ylä-Outinen, L.; Korhonen, I.; Tanskanen, J.M.; Kauppinen, P.; Aalto-Setälä, K.; Hyttinen, J.; Kerkelä, E.; Narkilahti, S.; Lekkala, J. All Titanium Microelectrode Array for Field Potential Measurements from Neurons and Cardiomyocytes—A Feasibility Study. Micromachines 2011, 2, 394-409.

AMA Style

Ryynänen T, Kujala V, Ylä-Outinen L, Korhonen I, Tanskanen JM, Kauppinen P, Aalto-Setälä K, Hyttinen J, Kerkelä E, Narkilahti S, Lekkala J. All Titanium Microelectrode Array for Field Potential Measurements from Neurons and Cardiomyocytes—A Feasibility Study. Micromachines. 2011; 2(4):394-409.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ryynänen, Tomi; Kujala, Ville; Ylä-Outinen, Laura; Korhonen, Ismo; Tanskanen, Jarno M.A.; Kauppinen, Pasi; Aalto-Setälä, Katriina; Hyttinen, Jari; Kerkelä, Erja; Narkilahti, Susanna; Lekkala, Jukka. 2011. "All Titanium Microelectrode Array for Field Potential Measurements from Neurons and Cardiomyocytes—A Feasibility Study." Micromachines 2, no. 4: 394-409.

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