Objective Previous animal studies have demonstrated that carbon nanotube (CNT) electrodes provide several advantages of preferential cell growth and better signal-to-noise ratio when interfacing with brain neural tissue. This work explores another advantage of CNT electrodes, namely their MRI compatibility. MRI-compatible neural electrodes that do not produce image artifacts will allow simultaneous co-located functional MRI and neural signal recordings, which will help improve our understanding of the brain. Approach Prototype CNT electrodes on polyimide substrates are fabricated and tested in vitro and in vivo in rat brain at 9.4T. To understand the results of the in vitro and in vivo studies, a simulation model based on numerical computation of the magnetic field around a two-dimensional object in a tissue substrate is developed. Main Results The prototype electrodes are found to introduce negligible image artifacts in structural and functional imaging sequences in vitro and in vivo. Simulation results confirm that CNT prototype electrodes produce less magnetic field distortion than traditional metallic electrodes due to a combination of both superior material properties and geometry. By using CNT films, image artifacts can be nearly eliminated at magnetic fields of strength up to 9.4T. At the same time, the high surface area of a CNT film provides high charge transfer and enables neural local field potential (LFP) recordings with an equal or better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than traditional electrodes. Significance CNT film electrodes can be used for simultaneous MRI and electrophysiology in animal models to investigate fundamental neuroscience questions and clinically relevant topics such as epilepsy.

中文翻译：

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碳纳米结构的神经探针显示出用于磁共振成像应用的前景

目的 先前的动物研究表明，碳纳米管 (CNT) 电极在与脑神经组织连接时具有优先细胞生长和更好的信噪比等优点。这项工作探索了 CNT 电极的另一个优势，即它们的 MRI 兼容性。不产生图像伪影的 MRI 兼容神经电极将允许同时进行功能性 MRI 和神经信号记录，这将有助于提高我们对大脑的理解。方法 聚酰亚胺基板上的原型 CNT 电极在 9.4T 下在大鼠脑中进行体外和体内测试。为了了解体外和体内研究的结果，开发了一种基于组织基底中二维物体周围磁场数值计算的模拟模型。主要结果 发现原型电极在体外和体内的结构和功能成像序列中引入了可忽略的图像伪影。仿真结果证实，由于优异的材料特性和几何形状的结合，CNT 原型电极比传统金属电极产生的磁场畸变更小。通过使用 CNT 薄膜，可以在高达 9.4T 的磁场强度下几乎消除图像伪影。同时，CNT 薄膜的大表面积提供了高电荷转移，并能够以与传统电极相同或更好的信噪比 (SNR) 进行神经局部场电位 (LFP) 记录。