Q: status of neuro-silicon connections

[Steven M. Bierer]

On 14 Apr 1996, Toby Orloff wrote:

> For a short story I'm writing I would be very grateful for a summary
> (or pointers, preferably on-line) of current research on interfacing
> living nerve impulses to semiconductor devices.  What are the successes
> and failures of this to date?
> 


For starters, you can point your Web browser to the homepage of The 
Center for Neural Communication Technology at the University of Michigan:

	http://www.engin.umich.edu/facility/cnct/index.html

For many years now, this group has been developing solid-state 
multi-channel electrodes for stimulation and recording of the nervous 
system. They supply these probes to interested users in the U.S and 
abroad. Related articles on the silicon probes can be found with a 
search of the following authors: Kensall Wise, Khalil Najafi, David 
Anderson, Kenneth Drake, Jamille Hetke.

For information about silicon/neural interfaces look for the names P. 
Fromherz ("A Neuron-Silicon Junction..." Science vol 252, 1991) and P. 
Bergveld ("Extracellular Potential Recording by Means of a Field Effect 
Transistor." IEEE Trans Biomed vol 23, 1976). Also, H. Galla, A. 
Cambiaso, and M. Grattarola have done pertinent studies.

Some other researchers of interest with publications on planar electrode 
arrays include: Guenter Gross, Jerome Pine, Stephen Boppart (flexible 
array), Marcus Meister (retinal tissue), and David Israel (cardiac tissue).

Finally there is a book entitled "The Brainmakers" by David Freeman, 
detailing some attempts at using real neural networks for computational 
purposes.