A dielectrophoresis and image processing based system for loading single-neurons per micro-well in planar microelectrode arrays

In this article, which is related to the biomedical signal processing applications area of the workshop, we present a system for positioning a single-neuron inside each micro-well of a 4-by-4 planar microelectrode array (MEA). Neurons are moved toward the electrode sites of the MEA (located at the bottom of the wells) using dielectrophoresis. The system utilizes the image acquisition and processing capabilities of MATLAB to detect the presence of a neuron inside each micro-well and stop the dielectrophoretic force, thus preventing more cells from being loaded. This method provides a fast, simple and relatively inexpensive way for loading cells on MEAs embedded with micro-wells for the purpose of acquiring and processing action potentials from geometrically defined biological neural networks at the single-cell level. Recordings from neurons that were positioned using this system have been obtained and are presented.