The Future of Intracranial EEG Recording in Epilepsy: a Technological Issue?

Intracranial EEG information used for epilepsy surgery has been provided from large widely spaced electrodes over a narrow bandwidth. However, over the last decades, research on animal and more recently on human, promoted by increased interest in developing high-density microelectrode arrays (MEA), has opened new windows for the comprehension of seizure origin and propagation at a submillimeter scale. From an electrophysiological perspective MEA demonstrate to be able to record local field potentials recordings and possibly single units in the mouse cortex. The limitations on the number of channels that can be recorded simultaneously may limit the number of microelectrodes that can be considered and consequently the extent of brain coverage. Thanks to improving microfabrication techniques, several prototypes of MEA are under development and investigation. They will certainly play an important role in the improvement of the understanding of the complicated and evolving concept of epileptogenesis and provide the development of new strategies regarding neurosurgical therapeutic issues.