ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on electrochemistry for the in situ monitoring of neurotransmitters, the chemicals that bridge the extracellular cleft at the synapse between two neurons for signaling. Technological innovation has driven the continued evolution of fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV), and replacing the historical hardwired link between the chemical measurement and recording equipment with wireless communication is a logical, but critical, next step. The chapter describes two new directions toward implementing this important engineering goal. The first direction developed small, battery- powered, board-level systems incorporating Bluetooth® telemetry. One device, called the wireless instantaneous neurotransmitter concentration system (WINCS), was designed specifically to be applied during human neurosurgical procedures such as deep brain stimulation (DBS). The second direction developed integrated circuits using very-large-scale integration (VLSI) techniques in standard complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Voltammetric techniques are suitable for monitoring electroactive substances and several neurotransmitters important for normal brain function and associated with human neuropathologies.