Uncorrected Proof SPIN: xxxxxxxx (Springer Handbook of Medical Technology) MS ID: hb20-074 Proof 1 Created on: 15 April 2011 9:16 CET 1 Index entries on this page monitoring neural activity central nervous system (CNS) peripheral nervous system (PNS) monitoring brain function Ionic Neural S 74. Ionic Neural Sensing Iasonas F. Triantis, Anna Radomska-Botelho Moniz, Kostis Michelakis, Sanjiv Sharma, Jakub Trzebinski, Belinda Garner, Amir Eftekhar TS 0 74.1 Central and Peripheral Nervous System Monitoring .......................................... 1 74.1.1 Monitoring the Brain Function ..... 1 74.1.2 Peripheral Nerve Monitoring Methods ................................... 3 74.1.3 Neural Amplifier Specifications .... 5 74.2 Chemistry of Neural Activity ................... 6 74.2.1 Ionic Aspect of Brain Activity........ 6 74.2.2 Ionic Aspect of Peripheral Nerve Signals .......... 6 74.3 Chemical Neural Sensing Technology and Challenges..................................... 7 74.3.1 Requirements for a Novel Method 7 74.3.2 State of the Art in Chemical Neural Recording Platforms ......... 7 74.3.3 Ionic Sensing – State of the Art and Challenges .......................... 8 74.4 Conclusion ........................................... 11 References .................................................. 12 Devices for monitoring neural activity have a range of applications including diagnostics, neurophysiology and neuropathology studies, drug monitoring, and re- habilitation – through the use of the obtained signal as feedback to neurostimulation. Today, there is a mas- sive surge in neural interfacing research, mainly due to recent advances in microelectronic and electrode technology. Various platforms are being developed for neural recording, both for the central and the peripheral nervous systems (CNS and PNS, respectively). Re- search in the area requires a combination of expertise on microelectronics, microfabrication, biology, medicine, and often chemistry, forming a trend for interdisci- plinary research. This chapter offers a brief overview of the merits of some of the most widely used neural monitoring technologies in the brain and at the periph- ery, identifying the need for alternative approaches and it examines the merits of ionic sensing as a possible method for obtaining alternative manifestations of neu- ronal activity. Existing chemical sensing technologies are then assessed in light of the requirements of such an application. 74.1 Central and Peripheral Nervous System Monitoring 74.1.1 Monitoring the Brain Function Single neurons or groups of neurons firing together in the brain generate chemical and electrical signals, of which the latter have been studied extensively through electrical measurements. Although it is pos- sible to monitor single neuron signals by penetrating the cell membrane (intracellular monitoring through TS 0 Please provide a summary. Editor’s or typesetter’s annotations (will be removed before the final TeX run) Part G 74