Multifunctional fiber-based optoacoustic emitter for non-genetic bidirectional neural communication

TL;DR

This paper introduces a miniaturized fiber-based device that enables non-genetic neural stimulation and electrical recording, facilitating bidirectional brain interfaces without genetic modification, with potential applications in neuroscience and medicine.

Contribution

The development of a multifunctional fiber optoacoustic emitter that combines non-genetic stimulation and electrophysiological recording in a compact, minimally invasive device.

Findings

Successful in vivo stimulation and recording in mouse hippocampus

Minimal brain tissue damage observed

Effective non-genetic neural modulation demonstrated

Abstract

A bidirectional brain interface with both "write" and "read" functions can be an important tool for fundamental studies and potential clinical treatments for neurological diseases. Here we report a miniaturized multifunctional fiber based optoacoustic emitter (mFOE) that first integrates simultaneous non-genetic optoacoustic stimulation for "write" and electrophysiology recording of neural circuits for "read". The non-genetic feature addresses the challenges of the viral transfection required by optogenetics in primates and human. The orthogonality between optoacoustic waves and electrical field provides a solution to avoid the interference between electrical stimulation and recording. We first validated the non-genetic stimulation function of the mFOE in rat cultured neurons using calcium imaging. In vivo application of mFOE for successful simultaneous optoacoustic stimulation and electrical recording of brain activities was confirmed in mouse hippocampus in both acute and chronical applications up to 1 month. Minimal brain tissue damage has been confirmed after these applications. The capability of non-genetic neural stimulation and recording enabled by mFOE opens up new possibilities for the investigation of neural circuits and brings new insights into the study of ultrasound neurostimulation.