CAREER: Optoelectronic neural scaffolds: materials platform for investigation and control of neuronal activity and development

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1253890AnikeevaIntellectual MeritThis CAREER proposal aims to bridge the gap between advanced optoelectronicmaterials design and invasive and outdated devices used to treat neurologicaldisorders. By developing flexible, biocompatible polymer-based optoelectronic scaffolds(OPTELS) a strategy for incorporating individual optically sensitive neurons into neuralrecording and stimulation devices will be created. These trapped neurons will beinvestigated as relays of optical stimulation or inhibition to intact neural networks, whichwill potentially enable future clinical applications of optogenetics, a powerful opticalneural stimulation tool, without genetic modification of the patient. Specifically theproject will be focused on the following objectives: (1) Developing fiber-inspiredfabrication methods for hollow-core polymer-based OPTELS and employing them toisolate key materials parameters (surface geometry, charge, flexibility) contributing tosurvival and growth of electronically active neurons; (2) Using OPTELS to investigateand control neuronal growth with the goal of axonal guidance along the OPTELS core.The proposed study will explore chemical, optoelectronic and mechanical stimuli andemploy OPTELS ability to record and stimulate neural activity to determine factorscontributing to axonal growth; (3) Employing neurons trapped in OPTELS cores as relaydevices of optical neural interrogation. Genetic modification will be applied to theneurons trapped within the OPTELS cores to enable expression of light-sensitive ionchannels - opsins. The controlled formation of synapses between these relay neuronsand the outside networks will be applied to the investigation of optogenetic interrogationof the network without directly genetically modifying it.Broader ImpactThe proposed project will explore materials interfaces between optoelectronic devicesand neural tissues providing a pathway towards intimate physiological neuroprostheticdevices for treatment of debilitating neurological conditions such as Parkinson's diseaseor spinal cord injury. The educational and outreach components of the project aredesigned to enhance materials engineering and optoelectronics education at MIT and atinner city community colleges through classroom training and hands-on laboratoryinternships. Specifically the outreach program aims to increase awareness about theimpact of engineering in medicine among community college students and teachersthrough the seminar series "Medical Electronics and Optics: Life-saving Engineering",and 10-week research and education summer internships in the PIs laboratory. Inaddition new lecture material and device-design based assignments will be developedfor the core undergraduate course on optical and electronic materials and a graduatephotonics course will be adapted to senior undergraduates with the goal of advancingoptoelectronics knowledge among the students. The educational materials will be madeavailable to worldwide community of learners through an open MIT web-basedresource.