Ana L. Mestre, Rute .C. Felix, Maria C. R. Medeiros, Deborah M. Power and Henrique Leonel Gomes
In contrast with the extensive research on devices that explore the neuron-neuron communication, the electronic technology to measure the long-range communication in non-electrogenic (or non-nervous) types of cells is still in its infancy. Non-electrogenic cells generate weak signals (a few micro-volts) with frequencies below 1 Hz. Designing low noise devices in a millihertz frequency range is extremely challenging due to the intrinsic thermal and 1/f type noise generated by the sensing electrode. Our group has pioneered this research in this area [1]–[3] and recently we developed devices with extremely low electrical noise[4]. These novel devices canare capable to detect the faint electrical fluctuations generated by the cooperative activity of non-electrogenic cells. The capacity of devices is capability to measure non-electrogenic cells was achieved by fabricating them devices using an inkjet-printed conducting polymer, the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). This soft and micro-fibrillar material enhances the effective area of the electrical double-layers formed between the electrolyte and the sensing surface. Furthermore, the PEDOT: PSS device is flexible, soft and biocompatible