A method for efficient, rapid, and minimally invasive implantation of individual non-functional motes with penetrating subcellular-diameter carbon fiber electrodes into rat cortex.

Objective: Distributed arrays of wireless neural interfacing chips with 1-2 channels each, known as "neural dust", could enhance brain machine interfaces (BMIs) by removing the wired connection through the scalp and increasing biocompatibility with their submillimeter size. Although several approaches for neural dust have emerged, a procedure for implanting them in batches that builds upon the safety and performance of currently used electrodes remains to be demonstrated.

Approach: Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of implanting batches of wireless motes that rest on the cortical surface with carbon fiber electrodes of subcellular diameter (6.