Researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have succeeded in developing an ultra-small multifunctional brain chip that can analyze brain activity from various angles.
According to the institute, various neurotransmitters present in the brain play a key role in the signaling process between nerve cells.
“When the concentration of neurotransmitters is higher or lower than normal, it causes various brain diseases, and hospitals sometimes use neurotransmitters to treat them,” the institute said. “Therefore, it is important to accurately measure the concentration of neurotransmitters in the investigation of the cause or treatment of brain diseases."
In measuring the concentration of neurotransmitters in the brain, it is necessary to insert a fluid tube for extracting cerebrospinal fluid with a size of 0.5 mm.
"Not only can this cause damage to brain tissue, but it is difficult to analyze neurotransmitters in specific brain regions because the fluid ducts span multiple regions of the brain," KIST said. "Also, it was difficult to analyze the correlation between neurotransmitters and brain activity as it was hard to measure brain signals, which are the main indicators to determine whether the brain is functioning normally."
To overcome this limitation, the research team, led by Professor Cho Il-ju, head of KIST's Brain Science Research Center, has developed an ultra-small multifunctional brain chip that integrates a fluid channel for cerebrospinal fluid extraction, a fluid channel for drug injection, and an electrode for brain signal measurement.
In 2019, the research team developed the world's first brain chip capable of injecting drugs and measuring signals simultaneously and published it in an international scientific journal.
The research team added a fluid tube for cerebrospinal fluid extraction to the brain chip, perceiving that the analysis of cerebrospinal fluid and electrical signals from the brain is an important tool for analyzing brain activity.
"The developed chip is 1/8 times smaller than the existing commercial cerebrospinal fluid extraction devices, which minimizes damage to brain tissue during the insertion process and enables precise brain activity analysis by simultaneously observing neurotransmitters and brain signals," the team said. "Also, since the chip extracts cerebrospinal fluid at low pressure through a small fluid tube, it can minimize clogging of the channel during long-term use."
After developing the chip, the research team inserted the developed multifunctional brain chip into the brain of a living mouse to extract cerebrospinal fluid and measure brain signals simultaneously.
The researchers also experimented with verifying the drug's effectiveness for treating brain diseases from various angles by measuring changes in neurotransmitters and brain signals over a period after administering a medication that regulates nerve activity to mice.
As a result, the team confirmed that they could use the developed brain chip as a new tool to verify therapeutic agents for brain diseases.
"The new brain chip for measuring neurotransmitters is small in size and can implement various functions at once, so it will be a useful tool to minimize brain damage and study the causes and treatments of brain diseases," Professor Cho said. "The team expects that researchers can use the developed system developed to various brain disease model animals, contributing to the development of effective brain disease therapeutics."
Biosensors and Bioelectronics has published the results of the study.