Recent developments of transparent electrode arrays provide a unique capability for simultaneous optical and electrical interrogation of neural circuits in the brain. However, none of these electrode arrays possess the stretchability highly desired for interfacing with mechanically active neural systems, such as the brain under injury, the spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Here, we report a stretchable transparent electrode array from carbon nanotube (CNT) web-like thin films that retains excellent electrochemical performance and broad-band optical transparency under stretching and is highly durable under cyclic stretching deformation. We show that the CNT electrodes record well-defined neuronal response signals with negligible light-induced artifacts from cortical surfaces under optogenetic stimulation. Simultaneous two-photon calcium imaging through the transparent CNT electrodes from cortical surfaces of GCaMP-expressing mice with epilepsy shows individual activated neurons in brain regions from which the concurrent electrical recording is taken, thus providing complementary cellular information in addition to the high-temporal-resolution electrical recording. Notably, the studies on rats show that the CNT electrodes remain operational during and after brain contusion that involves the rapid deformation of both the electrode array and brain tissue. This enables real-time, continuous electrophysiological monitoring of cortical activity under traumatic brain injury. These results highlight the potential application of the stretchable transparent CNT electrode arrays in combining electrical and optical modalities to study neural circuits, especially under mechanically active conditions, which could potentially provide important new insights into the local circuit dynamics of the spinal cord and PNS as well as the mechanism underlying traumatic injuries of the nervous system.

中文翻译：

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可伸缩的透明电极阵列，用于体内神经电路的同时电学和光学询问

透明电极阵列的最新发展为同时对大脑中的神经回路进行光学和电学询问提供了独特的功能。但是，这些电极阵列均不具有与机械活动神经系统（如受伤的大脑，脊髓和周围神经系统（PNS））接口所高度期望的可拉伸性。在这里，我们报道了一种由碳纳米管（CNT）网状薄膜构成的可拉伸透明电极阵列，该电极在拉伸过程中保持出色的电化学性能和宽带光学透明性，并且在循环拉伸变形下具有很高的耐久性。我们显示碳纳米管电极记录良好定义的神经元反应信号与光遗传学刺激下从皮质表面可忽略不计的光诱导伪影。患有癫痫的表达GCaMP的小鼠皮质表面通过透明CNT电极进行的同时双光子钙成像显示了大脑区域中的单个激活神经元，并从中进行了同时电记录，因此除了提供高时空信号外，还提供了补充的细胞信息。分辨率电记录。值得注意的是，对大鼠的研究表明，在脑挫伤期间和之后，涉及电极阵列和脑组织的快速变形的CNT电极仍可工作。这可以在创伤性脑损伤下实时，连续地对皮层活动进行电生理监测。这些结果突显了可伸缩透明CNT电极阵列在组合电学和光学模态以研究神经回路方面的潜在应用，