Evaluation of In Vivo Spike Detection Algorithms for Implantable MTA Brain—Silicon Interfaces

• Main Authors: Mattia Tambaro, Elia Arturo Vallicelli, Gerardo Saggese, Antonio Strollo, Andrea Baschirotto, Stefano Vassanelli
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-09-01
• Series: Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications
• Subjects: digital signal processing; signal detection; real-time systems; neuroscience; low power
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9268/10/3/26

This work presents a comparison between different neural spike algorithms to find the optimum for in vivo implanted EOSFET (electrolyte–oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor) sensors. EOSFET arrays are planar sensors capable of sensing the electrical activity of nearby neuron populations in both in vitro cultures and in vivo experiments. They are characterized by a high cell-like resolution and low invasiveness compared to probes with passive electrodes, but exhibit a higher noise power that requires ad hoc spike detection algorithms to detect relevant biological activity. Algorithms for implanted devices require good detection accuracy performance and low power consumption due to the limited power budget of implanted devices. A figure of merit (FoM) based on accuracy and resource consumption is presented and used to compare different algorithms present in the literature, such as the smoothed nonlinear energy operator and correlation-based algorithms. A multi transistor array (MTA) sensor of 7 honeycomb pixels of a 30 μm² area is simulated, generating a signal with Neurocube. This signal is then used to validate the algorithms’ performances. The results allow us to numerically determine which is the most efficient algorithm in the case of power constraint in implantable devices and to characterize its performance in terms of accuracy and resource usage.