Prototyping Neuroelectronic Device Concepts in Low-Cost Invertebrate Model Organisms

Next-generation bioelectronics hardware evolves through interdisciplinary collaborations between materials and device engineers and neuroscientists, with certain barriers existing between design/fabrication, in vitro, and finally in vivo testing. It is rare for research teams handling device development to have in-house capability for electrophysiology in animals. I will describe our recent work on using simple invertebrate models for in vivo testing of novel recording and stimulation hardware: namely leeches (<i>Hirudo medicinalis</i>) and locusts (<i>Locusta migratoria</i>). Several showcase examples will be discussed. The leech nerve cord provides a suitable testing platform for prototyping nerve cuff devices for recording and stimulation. Stimulation can be validated using highly reproducible muscle electrophysiology or force transduction measurements. The locust, with its segmented body and well-defined skeletal muscle, is a convenient model for testing neurostimulation techniques, including noninvasive electrical stimulation which can be validated by precise activation of limb movements. The overall goal of this work is to present a toolbox of low-cost and ethically favorable approaches to test new device concepts before they are deployed on mammals.