Initiated chemical vapor deposition of a siloxane coating for insulation of neural probes

Recent advances in the field of neuroprosthetics have brought the possibility of human utilization into the near term. However, current implant coating chemistries require thicknesses of similar to 25 pm in order to provide the required electrical insulation, significantly increasing the diameter of the neural probe shanks and resulting surgical damage upon implantation. In this work, a novel biopassivation coating is created through initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) of trivinyl-trimethyl-cyclotrisiloxane. The resulting material is a highly crosslinked organosilicon polymer matrix which is synthesized directly on the surface of the substrate. This material possesses an electrical resistivity which allows for a coating thickness on the order of only 5 Pm. The material has also been demonstrated to retain its electrical properties in a simulated biological environment for over 3 years. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.