Investigation of Extracellular Signal Shapes Recorded by Planar Metal Microelectrodes Covered With Carbon Nanotubes: Modeling and Simulations

Bundles of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) arranged in vertical alignment and in normal direction to the surface of a planar metal microelectrode were used to interface neurons and the recording microtransducer. A model of such a hybrid system was developed and implemented in HSPICE to simulate and analyze the electrical interactions and the induced extracellularly recorded neuronal electrical activity as a function of the neuroelectronic junction and CNTs bundle parameters. The results pointed out carbon nanotubes, as electrical interfaces to neurons, act both on the amplitude and the shape of the recorded signals.