A method for stable electrical connection of a multi-channeled polyimide electrode with PCB

We propose a novel packaging method of a thin polyimide multichannel microelectrode. For the simple electrical connection of polyimide (PI) electrodes, we made a via-hole at the interconnection pads of thin PI electrodes, and constructed a Ni ring by electroplating through the via-hole for the stable soldering and strong adhesion of the electrode to PCB. For the construction of a well-organized Ni ring, the electroplating condition was optimized, and the electrical property of the packaged electrode was evaluated. A 40 channel thin PI electrode was fabricated and packaged by the proposed method, and we performed the animal experiment with this packaged electrode for the high-resolution recording of neural signals from the skull of a rat.