Magnetic Resonance Identification Tags for Ultra-flexible Electrodes | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Magnetic Resonance Identification Tags for Ultra-flexible Electrodes Eminhan Özil, Peter Gombkoto, Athina Apostolelli, Tansel Yasar, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6406139/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Ultra-flexible electrodes, due to their superior biocompatibility, are likely to lead the future of neuroprosthetics. However, identifying the locations of high-density ultra-flexible electrodes in the brain for accurately assigning neural signals to specific structures remains a major challenge. To address this, we developed magnetic resonance identification (MRID) -tags. Each ultra-flexible electrode bundle carries an MRID-tag with unique barcode patterns visible in MRI (MRI-barcodes) for identification of the bundle and the anatomical positions of individual electrodes. We generate the MRI-barcodes by patterning superparamagnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles into electrode fibers (10µm 2 ) with dot-matrix nanoparticle coating technique. We chronically tested MRID-tagged ultra-flexible electrodes in vivo in the dorsal hippocampus of freely-moving rats, where distinct electrophysiological landmarks validated our electrode localization results. We were able to localize individual electrodes with a mean accuracy of 83 µm. MRID-tagged ultra-flexible electrodes demonstrated months-long recording stability with mean single-unit signal-to-noise ratios as high as 20. Biological sciences/Neuroscience Health sciences/Medical research Full Text Additional Declarations Yes there is potential Competing Interest. The authors Tansel Baran Yasar, Peter Gombkoto, Eminhan Ozil, Wolfger von der Behrens, and Mehmet Fatih Yanik have filed a patent application (EP24176952) for the corresponding technologies "Ultra-flexible tentacle electrodes (UFTEs)" and "Magnetic resonance identification tags" that are mentioned and described in the manuscript. All experimental and surgical procedures involving animals were approved by the local veterinary authorities of Canton Zurich, Switzerland, and were carried out in accordance with the guidelines published in the European Communities Council Directives 2010/63/EU. Supplementary Files MRIDsupplementary.pdf Supplementary Figures Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6406139","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":443961641,"identity":"ac79dee0-eeaf-4c3d-b5ba-b89f95b33068","order_by":0,"name":"Eminhan Özil","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0759-8617","institution":"Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Eminhan","middleName":"","lastName":"Özil","suffix":""},{"id":443961642,"identity":"fabb08a7-bc08-40a4-8cc2-964084df39c5","order_by":1,"name":"Peter Gombkoto","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8393-173X","institution":"Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Peter","middleName":"","lastName":"Gombkoto","suffix":""},{"id":443961643,"identity":"b5f900c3-a7de-4835-ba0d-1dbd7f4ed112","order_by":2,"name":"Athina Apostolelli","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8061-1703","institution":"Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Athina","middleName":"","lastName":"Apostolelli","suffix":""},{"id":443961644,"identity":"73cf503a-d07c-41b3-b215-d15345aea531","order_by":3,"name":"Tansel Yasar","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4424-0172","institution":"Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tansel","middleName":"","lastName":"Yasar","suffix":""},{"id":443961645,"identity":"d344fd6b-412d-46ad-963c-ceeb373dc804","order_by":4,"name":"Angeliki Vavladeli","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0794-723X","institution":"Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Angeliki","middleName":"","lastName":"Vavladeli","suffix":""},{"id":443961646,"identity":"126f08aa-9778-4d1c-89a6-248cb72983a8","order_by":5,"name":"Markus Marks","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8016-1637","institution":"Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Markus","middleName":"","lastName":"Marks","suffix":""},{"id":443961647,"identity":"5fdb8f30-af5c-4d8d-9cd0-fe8e4b91e22c","order_by":6,"name":"Wolfger von der Behrens","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6883-0236","institution":"Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wolfger","middleName":"von der","lastName":"Behrens","suffix":""},{"id":443961640,"identity":"e6c8870e-6475-4705-8990-0704429f09d0","order_by":7,"name":"Mehmet Yanik","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAq0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJCCgw0VDAwGQAYzCVrOMEiQpoWxsY0ULQbHzx48OHOeTZ05/wHGzwVEaTmTl3Bw47Y0CcuGA8zSM4jSciDH4ODDbYclDA42sDHzEKXl/Bugljn/JQwOMxCr5QbQlo0NByQMjhGrRfIG0JYZx5IlN5xhbJYmSgvf+Rzjjz01dvwG5w8f/EyUFoUDcCZjAzEaGBjkiVQ3CkbBKBgFIxkAAPpFNiGLr9N5AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8963-2893","institution":"Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich)","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mehmet","middleName":"","lastName":"Yanik","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-08 19:56:19","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6406139/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6406139/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":82662551,"identity":"da49134d-03c6-4f38-9d1d-ae7912ef8089","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-13 22:15:28","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1274576,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MRIDmanuscriptfinal.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6406139/v1_covered_7aba1a1d-332f-4d57-9a44-d546a1df75fb.pdf"},{"id":82220729,"identity":"461f0e1a-eb37-435d-8d00-e6d8ae537a0d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-08 02:17:03","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":5824578,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Figures","description":"","filename":"MRIDsupplementary.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6406139/v1/c82af3a49ecc063c335d25a7.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYes\u003c/strong\u003e there is potential Competing Interest. The authors Tansel Baran Yasar, Peter Gombkoto, Eminhan Ozil, Wolfger von der Behrens, and Mehmet Fatih Yanik have filed a patent application (EP24176952) for the corresponding technologies \"Ultra-flexible tentacle electrodes (UFTEs)\" and \"Magnetic resonance identification tags\" that are mentioned and described in the manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll experimental and surgical procedures involving animals were approved by the local veterinary authorities of Canton Zurich, Switzerland, and were carried out in accordance with the guidelines published in the European Communities Council Directives 2010/63/EU.\u003c/p\u003e","formattedTitle":"Magnetic Resonance Identification Tags for Ultra-flexible Electrodes","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"
[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6406139/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6406139/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eUltra-flexible electrodes, due to their superior biocompatibility, are likely to lead the future of neuroprosthetics. However, identifying the locations of high-density ultra-flexible electrodes in the brain for accurately assigning neural signals to specific structures remains a major challenge. To address this, we developed magnetic resonance identification (MRID) -tags. Each ultra-flexible electrode bundle carries an MRID-tag with unique barcode patterns visible in MRI (MRI-barcodes) for identification of the bundle and the anatomical positions of individual electrodes. We generate the MRI-barcodes by patterning superparamagnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles into electrode fibers (10\u0026micro;m\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e) with dot-matrix nanoparticle coating technique. We chronically tested MRID-tagged ultra-flexible electrodes \u003cem\u003ein vivo\u003c/em\u003e in the dorsal hippocampus of freely-moving rats, where distinct electrophysiological landmarks validated our electrode localization results. We were able to localize individual electrodes with a mean accuracy of 83 \u0026micro;m. MRID-tagged ultra-flexible electrodes demonstrated months-long recording stability with mean single-unit signal-to-noise ratios as high as 20.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Magnetic Resonance Identification Tags for Ultra-flexible Electrodes","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-05-08 02:16:58","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6406139/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"
[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"971939b0-ea9a-47e0-9807-645c813a2c1b","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 8th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":48327986,"name":"Biological sciences/Neuroscience"},{"id":48327987,"name":"Health sciences/Medical research"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-05-13T22:07:57+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-05-08 02:16:58","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6406139","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6406139","identity":"rs-6406139","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}
Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below.
Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure
cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can
have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy
(via DOI)
is the canonical version.