A generic framework for real-time multi-channel neuronal signal analysis, telemetry control and sub-millisecond latency feedback generation

• Main Authors: Christoph eZrenner, Danny eEytan, Avner eWallach, Peter eThier, Shimon Marom
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2010-10-01
• Series: Frontiers in Neuroscience
• Subjects: Feedback; Real-time; MATLAB; Multi-Electrode Array; Man-Machine interface; multi-channel
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnins.2010.00173/full
• ISSN: 1662-453X

Distinct modules of the neural circuitry interact with each other and (through the motor-sensory loop) with the environment, forming a complex dynamic system. Neuro-prosthetic devices seeking to modulate or restore CNS function need to interact with the information flow at the level of neural modules electrically, bi-directionally and in real-time. A set of freely available generic tools is presented that allow computationally demanding multi-channel short-latency bi-directional interactions to be realized in in-vivo and in-vitro preparations using standard PC data acquisition and processing hardware and software (Mathworks Matlab and Simulink). A commercially available 60-channel extracellular multi-electrode recording and stimulation set-up connected to an ex-vivo developing cortical neuronal culture is used as a model system to validate the method. We demonstrate how complex high-bandwidth (> 10 megabit per second) neural recording data can be analyzed in real-time while simultaneously generating specific complex electrical stimulation feedback with deterministically timed responses at sub-millisecond resolution.