Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a flexible wireless brain implant, that uses microLEDs to emit patterned light through the skull to activate neurons and deliver information directly to the brain.
This new device is less invasive than previous designs, and its flexibility means that it can conform to the surface of the skull and shine light through the bone, to the brain.
In experiments, scientists used the device’s tiny, patterned bursts of light to activate specific populations of neurons deep inside the brains of mouse models.. These neurons were genetically modified to respond to light) The mice quickly learned to interpret these patterns as meaningful signals, which they could recognize and use.
The researchers say that this technology has immense potential for various therapeutic applications, including providing sensory feedback for prosthetic limbs, delivering artificial stimuli for future vision or hearing prostheses, modulating pain perception without opioids or systemic drugs, enhancing rehabilitation after stroke or injury, controlling robotic limbs with the brain, and more.
