Figure 2
Tissue-friendly insertion system by reducing the effective length. (a) Buckling force threshold P\(_{cr}\) as a function of probe length for the PaC based shanks with width of 100 μm, thickness of 10 μm and a Young’s modulus of 2.76 GPa30. The minimum insertion force of 1 mN needs to be withstand by the probe for penetration of the tissue. (b) Array with a PEG coating (boarded in yellow) leaving the first 200 μm from the tip exposed to temporally reduce the effective shank length. (c) Series of optical images showing the successful insertion of the flexible probes (see side view) using the tissue-friendly insertion system, which minimizes the implantation footprints to the dimensions of the shanks (see top view). Dashed line indicates surface of agarose gel. As the neural probe was inserted at an angle, above a penetration depth of 700 μm a slight shift was observed in the insertion holes. Side and top view were obtained from two different insertions.
