Flexible EMG arrays with integrated electronics for scalable electrode density

Recent developments in electrode technology have demonstrated the power of flexible microelectrode arrays (FMEAs) for measuring muscle activity at high resolution. We recently introduced the Myomatrix array, an FMEA optimized for measuring the activity of individual motor units (the collection of muscle fibers innervated by a single motor neuron) [1] in freely behaving animals. Although FMEAs are fundamentally changing the way electromyography (EMG) is acquired, the number of recording channels is limited by the size of the plug that interfaces with the signal processing hardware and the density of electrode connections on the array. Increasing EMG channel count and supporting electrophysiological studies in smaller animals depends on two seemingly incompatible goals: reducing device size while increasing the number of recording channels. The solution to these goals is to increase the channel count per wire output. Current off-the-shelf designs require a separate headstage and FMEA to be used simultaneously. In our prior devices [1], each FMEA had a dedicated wire output for every electrode input, creating a channel density of 1:1. To improve this channel density, we have developed an FMEA with an integrated digital amplifier (Bare-Die RHD2216, INTAN INC, USA). The design of the FMEA reduces the footprint of the device’s back end by 74% and relocates the Intan bare die from the headstage to the FMEA itself, creating a channel density of 1:3.2. Our methodology combines standard FMEA microfabrication with wire-bonding and surface-mounted components, enabling direct integration into a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) connection into the device itself, without any separate headstage. With this initial device there is a 1 : 3.2 channel density; however, our method allows using other bare die amplifiers (Intan, Inc., USA) for a channel density of 1:12.8. Our findings present a robust technique for chip embedding in custom FMEAs applicable to in-vivo electrophysiology