Microelectrode Array

A small grid of fine recording electrodes (typically 96 silicon shanks in a 4mm x 4mm Utah array) surgically implanted into the cerebral cortex to record the electrical activity of individual neurons and small neural populations. Microelectrode arrays are the sensing front-end of most current intracortical brain-computer interfaces; their high spatial resolution makes possible the fine-grained decoding of intended movements, speech, or gestures that lower-resolution methods like scalp EEG cannot reliably achieve. Practical considerations for accessibility include surgical risk, signal stability over months and years, percutaneous versus fully implanted form factors, and the eventual need for chronic biocompatibility as BCIs move from clinical trials toward broader assistive use.