The Array Drive has originally been developed in the Neural Systems Lab at the University of Maryland in College Park, by Bernhard Englitz, Stephen David, Didier Depireux and Shihab Shamma. We have used it successfully in multiple implants, significantly increasing our yield and flexibility over fixed depth arrays. For details, see the poster in the downloads section. A paper on the EDDS Array Drive is in preparation and will be submitted early 2012.

Information processing in the brain is distributed across large populations of neurons. Multielectrode recordings are one approach to read the population code especially when behavior is required. Multielectrode Arrays (MEAs) are a convenient way of bundling a large number of electrodes (>100) and are available from a number of companies. However, MEAs are usually put at a fixed depth, thus loosing the possibility to adapt the position during later recordings to improve isolation or sample different layers.

The EDDS Array Drive allows to move the entire MEA in depth. The MEA is fixed to a movable shuttle, which is mechanically restricted to precise depth movements only. We have successfully implanted and operated Drives with 32 channels for multiple months, obtaining >100 single units at different depths. Users can adapt the reference design freely and local/online machine shops can produce the drives worldwide, thus it can be low cost & locally customizable.