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Pulsed electrical fields (PEFs) that weaken the integrity of cellular membranes have been used for a variety of biomedical applications. Recent work suggests that nanosecond PEFs (nsPEFs) might be more beneficial than longer duration PEFs due to their slightly different mechanism of interaction with the cells. The nervous system presents an attractive, yet underutilized, biological target for nsPFE applications. In this paper we describe an in vitro primary mixed cortical cell system to test the effects of nsPFEs.

The successful use of implantable neural microelectrodes as neuroprosthetic devices depends on the mitigation of the reactive tissue response of the brain. One of the factors affecting the ultimate severity of the reactive tissue response and the in vivo electrical properties of the microelectrodes is the initial adsorption of proteins onto the surface of the implanted microelectrodes. In this study we quantify the increase in microelectrode impedance magnitude at physiological frequencies following electrode immersion in a 10% bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution. We also demonstrate the efficacy of a common antifouling molecule, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), in preventing a significant increase in microelectrode impedance. In addition, we show the feasibility of using long-duration DC voltage pulses to remove adsorbed proteins from the microelectrode surface.