Development of electrochemical imaging methods using micro-electrode arrays and microfluidic networks

Distribution of molecules over space and time drive a multitude of macroscopic and microscopic biological processes. There is a need to design novel imaging techniques that can map molecular distributions with spatiotemporal resolution. In this thesis, new electrochemical approaches to provide spatiotemporal imaging are presented. The bulk of this work utilizes high-density platinum micro-electrode arrays fabricated using complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication techniques as well as microfluidics and carbon-based electrodes fabricated using soft lithography fabrication techniques.;The systems described in this dissertation focus on quantification of biologically relevant neurotransmitters, mainly catecholamines and nitric oxide with concentration ranges from nM to mM. The pitch, or resolution between two "pixels" of electrochemical data, was 250 microm for microfluidic based sampling methods and 12.5 microm for the CMOS based sensors. Descriptions of fabrication methods for the carbon based electrodes and CMOS electrodes are described in this work. Finally, potential future directions of this technology is discussed in the final chapter.