Abstract
Optogenetic stimulation of the peripheral nervous system is a novel approach to motor control, somatosensory transduction, and pain processing. Various optical stimulation tools have been developed for optogenetic stimulation using optical fibers and light-emitting diodes positioned on the peripheral nerve. However, these tools require additional sensors to monitor the limb or muscle status. We present herein a novel optical nerve cuff electrode that uses a single cuff electrode to conduct to simultaneously monitor neural activity and optogenetic stimulation of the peripheral nerve. The proposed optical nerve cuff electrode is designed with a polydimethylsiloxane substrate, on which electrodes can be positioned to record neural activity. We confirm that the illumination intensity and the electrical properties of the optical nerve cuff electrode are suitable for optical stimulation with simultaneous neural activity monitoring in Thy1::ChR2 transgenic mice. With the proposed electrode, the limb status is monitored with continuous streaming signals during the optical stimulation of anesthetized and moving animals. In conclusion, this optical nerve cuff electrode provides a new optical modulation tool for peripheral nervous system studies.
Highlights
To activate opsins that had been transgenically expressed or delivered through gene therapy
A pair of electrodes was positioned on both sides of the PDMS substrate, which was connected to the neural signal amplifier system in a bipolar configuration
A novel optical nerve cuff electrode was proposed for the simultaneous optical stimulation and neural activity monitoring of Thy1::ChR2 mice
Summary
To activate opsins that had been transgenically expressed or delivered through gene therapy. The optical fiber was attached to the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) structure[11], a micro-LED array was attached to the outside of a glass capillary pipette[10] and a single micro-LED was positioned above the sciatic nerve using wireless power transmission[12] This series of studies using animal-based experiments showed that optically induced neuromodulation of the peripheral nerve is an effective approach. The previous approaches were limited to implementation in a moving animal model for measuring the limb status from the response to stimulation To address this consideration, we present a novel optical nerve cuff electrode for optogenetic stimulation with simultaneous monitoring of neural activity in the peripheral nerve. We demonstrated the possibility of using the proposed optical nerve cuff electrode as an optogenetic tool for optical stimulation and neural activity monitoring in various PNS studies
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