Development of tentacle-shaped bone marrow neural probe enabling ultra-low invasive and high electrode density recording

Abstract The bone marrow is an organ located at the center of bones and is responsible for producing blood cells. Sympathetic nerves are present within the bone marrow and are believed to play a significant role in hematopoiesis. One of the issues in the bone marrow is that certain hematologic malignancies are known to increase with aging. Although treatments for such diseases include chemotherapy and radiation therapy, these impose a heavy burden on elderly patients. Therefore, the development of low-invasive treatment methods is strongly required. In this study, an ultra-low-invasive, tentacle-shaped bone marrow neural probe—a device designed for recording neural activity in the bone marrow—was fabricated and evaluated. This tentacle-shaped neural probe not only allows for the three-dimensional placement of recording electrodes within the bone marrow but also maximizes the number of electrodes per unit volume.