Abstract
We introduce a single channel neuro-stimulator consisting of a reflector-coupled microscale light emitting diode (µLED) with an integrated mm-sized wireless receiver (Rx) coil for free-floating, battery-free, untethered optogenetics neuromodulation. The system utilizes a two-coil inductive link to deliver instantaneous power at a low operating frequency (<100 MHz) for continuous optical stimulation with minimized invasiveness and tissue exposure to electromagnetic radiation. Coupling a microscale reflector to the µLED provides significant light intensity enhancement compared to a bare µLED. Our activated stimulators have an operational temperature increase of <1 °C, well below the safety limit of biomedical implants. In vivo experiment and histological analysis verify the efficacy of wireless optical stimulation in the primary visual cortex of rats, using c-Fos biomarker as a reporter of light-evoked neuronal activity.
Highlights
Rapid progress in neuroscience discoveries has been achieved by successful incorporation of semiconductor devices with/in biological systems and by their successful transformation into clinical devices[1]
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis in Fig. 2e, f shows a small mean roughness (~72 nm) for the etched cavity, confirming the smooth morphology of the cavity resulted from the wet isotropic etching
The optical analysis shows that our reflector-coupled stimulator enables over 60% performance improvement when compared to a bare μ-LED stimulator, simultaneously surpassing the required effective optogenetic activation intensity threshold
Summary
Rapid progress in neuroscience discoveries has been achieved by successful incorporation of semiconductor devices with/in biological systems and by their successful transformation into clinical devices[1]. In contrary to current prevalent pharmacological approaches, medicine and therapy for future have a strong potential to be revolutionized by implantable “electroceuticals” which essentially target the neural pathways, in both the central and peripheral nervous systems for therapeutic intervention[2]. Optogenetics, the technology of delivering light to tissues of interest while collecting readouts from the cells using targeted control tools[3] has become a prominent method for recent neuroscience discoveries and an effective method towards future implantable therapeutic approaches. With the help of optogenetics, it was possible to study the transmission of primary sensory information to the brains regarding olfactory[10], visual[11], and auditory[12] domains
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