An in vitro system for modeling brain reactive responses and changes in neuroprosthetic device impedance

Currently available methods for analyzing the structural properties of neural tissue are limited by the frequency at which data can be collected and by the need to sacrifice the specimen to correlate histology with other data. Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) can be used to complement conventional histological and imaging-based methods by measuring real-time electrical data that can be ascribed to changes in tissue composition and structure. This report describes an impedance-based method for the analysis and modeling of the electrical properties of three-dimensional neural tissue constructs in vitro. This model system was used to assess the effects of cell density, type and organization on neuroprosthetic device electrode performance.