Intrinsically stretchable electrode array enabled in vivo electrophysiological mapping of atrial fibrillation at cellular resolution

Significance Electrophysiological mapping of chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) at high throughput and high resolution is critical for understanding its underlying mechanism and guiding definitive treatment such as cardiac ablation, but current electrophysiological tools are limited by either low spatial resolution or electromechanical uncoupling of the beating heart. We herein introduce a microfabricated high-density, fully elastic electrode (termed elastrode) array for complex electrophysiological signal recording in vivo. We demonstrated the capability to identify clinically relevant electrophysiological heterogeneity in the pathologic state of pacing-induced chronic AF that was captured and correlated with state-of-the-art clinical techniques, which show the potential to apply this elastrode array toward elucidating the mechanism of AF at a cellular level and developing targeted AF therapy.