Abstract
Optogenetics is a new neuroscience technology that uses light-responsive proteins to stimulate neurons with light and control the emotions and/or behavior of animals. There are a few approaches to deliver light to neurons in vivo, including a using an optical fiber that can send light from an external source to a target neuron, directly inserting a light-emitting device, and shooting light to penetrate tissue from the outside. Among these methods, inserting a wireless light-emitting device that is capable of being used for an experiment while leaving an animal completely free is a method that has been studied in recent years. At the same time, the possibility of causing mechanical and thermal damage to neural tissues has been highlighted as an issue due to the stiffness of robust injection tools and the photoelectric efficiency of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In this study, we developed a device that can send light from a wireless light-emitting device to a target neuron without mechanical and thermal effects and analyzed the optical and thermal characteristics of the device to be used for optogenetic studies.
Highlights
The brain receives and analyzes electrical signals from various nerves and, in response, releases hormones to manage emotions and stimulate motor nerves to control behavior
In addition to biological modification, there remains the problem of technically delivering light to a target neuron, which is solved by using laser equipment as a light source and an optical fiber as a waveguide that can reflect light inside the fiber [6,7,8]
We developed a new type of optogenetic device using a biodegradable shell on a soft optical fiber that transmits light from a wireless light-emitting device to a target neuron without further mechanical and thermal damage and analyzed this system optically, mechanically, and thermally
Summary
The brain receives and analyzes electrical signals from various nerves and, in response, releases hormones to manage emotions and stimulate motor nerves to control behavior. Research has long been underway on methods of stimulating the neurons of the brain, the most common of which is to inject a metal probe or arrays of probes into the brain and stimulate neurons with electricity from the tip of the probe [1,2,3]. This is a simple and relatively easy-to-operate device, but since most biological tissue conducts electricity the problem arises that it is almost impossible to finely control a specific neuron. Instead of using a wired optical fiber system, many studies have been conducted by attaching or inserting a light-emitting device that is operated wirelessly [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18]
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