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Fast electrochemical imaging enables the dynamic study of electroactive molecule diffusion in neurotransmitter release from single cells and dopamine mapping in brain slices. In this paper, we discuss the design of an electrochemical imaging sensor using a monolithic CMOS sensor array and a multifunctional data acquisition system. Using post-CMOS fabrication, the CMOS sensor integrates 1024 on-chip electrodes on the surface and contains 1024 low-noise amplifiers to simultaneous process parallel electrochemical recordings. Each electrochemical electrode and amplifier are optimized to operate at 10.38 kHz sampling rate. To support the operation of the high-throughput CMOS device, a multifunctional data acquisition device is developed to provide the required speed and accuracy. The high analog data rate of 10.63 MHz from all 1024 amplifiers is redundantly sampled by the custom-designed data acquisition system which can process up to 73.6 MHz with up to ~400 Mbytes/s data rate to a computer using USB 3.0 interface. To contain the liquid above the electrochemical sensors and prevent electronic and wire damage, we packaged the monolithic sensor using a 3D-printed well. Using the presented device, 32 pixel × 32 pixel electrochemical imaging of dopamine diffusion is successfully demonstrated at over 10,000 frames per second, the fastest reported to date.
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This content will become publicly available on August 1, 2026
High-Speed 1024-Pixel CMOS Electrochemical Imaging Sensor with 40,000 Frames per Second for Dopamine and Hydrogen Peroxide Imaging
Electrochemical sensing arrays enable the spatial study of dopamine levels throughout brain slices, the diffusion of electroactive molecules, as well as neurotransmitter secretion from single cells. The integration of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices in the development of electrochemical sensing devices enables large-scale parallel recordings, providing beneficial high-throughput for drug screening studies, brain–machine interfaces, and single-cell electrophysiology. In this paper, an electrochemical sensor capable of recording at 40,000 frames per second using a CMOS sensor array with 1024 electrochemical detectors and a custom field-programmable gate array data acquisition system is detailed. A total of 1024 on-chip electrodes are monolithically integrated onto the designed CMOS chip through post-CMOS fabrication. Each electrode is paired with a dedicated transimpedance amplifier, providing 1024 parallel electrochemical sensors for high-throughput studies. To support the level of data generated by the electrochemical device, a powerful data acquisition system is designed to operate the sensor array as well as digitize and transmit the output of the CMOS chip. Using the presented electrochemical sensing system, both dopamine and hydrogen peroxide diffusions across the sensor array are successfully recorded at 40,000 frames per second across the 32 × 32 electrochemical detector array.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2411567
- PAR ID:
- 10656607
- Publisher / Repository:
- Electronics
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Electronics
- Volume:
- 14
- Issue:
- 16
- ISSN:
- 2079-9292
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 3207
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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