Patent ID: 8901913

Claim:
A microelectrode sensing device, comprising: a printed circuit board (PCB); a chip unit electrically connected to the printed circuit board comprising: a substrate, a conductive layer positioned over the substrate and comprising one or more recording electrodes, a first set of ground electrodes in the conductive layer separated by a first set of gaps and arranged to form a first enclosure around the one or more recording electrodes, wherein a wire connecting each of the recording electrodes to a corresponding contact pad on the chip unit passes through a corresponding gap in the first set of gaps; an insulation layer positioned over the conductive layer, another conductive layer positioned over the insulation layer comprising at least four positioning electrodes, such that the at least four positioning electrodes and the one or more recording electrodes are in two different conductive layers, wherein the at least four positioning electrodes are configured as a first two-dimensional (2D) electrode array to position cells near the one or more recording electrodes, which are configured as a second 2D electrode array, and wherein each of the recording electrodes in the second 2D electrode array is positioned between four positioning electrodes in the first 2D electrode array; a second set of ground electrodes in the other conductive layer separated by a second set of gaps and arranged to form a second enclosure around the at least four positioning electrodes, wherein a wire connecting each of the positioning electrodes to a corresponding contact pad on the chip unit passes through a corresponding gap in the second set of gaps; and another insulation layer positioned over the other conductive layer; and a cell culture chamber positioned over the chip unit and sealed to the PCB with the chip unit located between the PCB and the cell culture chamber; and wherein, the one or more recording electrodes and the at least four positioning electrodes are electrically independent so as to independently receive a stimulus signal at each recording electrode and positioning electrode and independently detect a sensed signal at each recording electrode.