Patent ID: 8779779

Claim:
A microelectrode sensing device, comprising: a substrate; an array of microelectrode sensors formed on the substrate, each sensor comprising at least one conductive layer formed above the substrate and patterned to comprise a counter electrode and a plurality of sensing electrodes to detect an electrical signal in absence and presence of one or more target cells positioned on at least a portion of a surface of each sensing electrode; and a chemical coating on a first region of the surface of each of the plurality of sensing electrodes to inhibit adhesion of the one or more target cells onto the first region of the surface of the plurality of sensing electrodes, while a second region of the surface of each of the plurality of sensing electrodes is free of the chemical coating to allow adhesion of the one or more target cells onto the second region of the surface of the plurality of sensing electrodes, and wherein the chemical coating is made of a material that desorbs from the surface of the plurality of sensing electrodes in response to an electrical stimulus; wherein the plurality of sensing electrodes are spaced apart and arranged around the counter electrode and each sensing electrode having one end facing the counter electrode and a second end facing away from the counter electrode, the second end commonly connected to second ends of all other sensing electrodes to collectively provide a single spatially averaged output value of the detected electrical signal, and wherein the first region of the surface of each sensing electrode is located at the end of each sensing electrode facing the counter electrode, and wherein the second region of the surface of each sensing electrode is adjacent to the first region and extended to the second end of each sensing electrode.