Implantable Optoelectronic Devices for Neurophysiology

近年来，光的产生和操纵技术发展迅速，使得光学系统小型化到以前认为无法实现的尺寸成为可能。这些发展的前沿是塑料，它使光源和探测器的制造在颜色、形状、尺寸和结构上具有灵活性，从而进一步推动了微型光学系统的极限。我们才刚刚开始了解这些技术进步对医学领域的革命性影响，因为这需要物理科学和医学科学之间的深度融合。在这个项目中，我们将通过使用微型塑料光源和探测器来构建植入式设备来探索它，这有可能改变我们对神经系统的理解和治疗方式。通过测量神经细胞周围的血液颜色，可以非常详细地监测神经组织是如何使用氧气的。这反过来又告诉我们组织活动水平。也有可能修改神经细胞，使它们对光作出反应。用一种特定颜色的光照射它们，修饰过的细胞就会被激活，而用另一种不同颜色的光照射它们，这种活动就会暂时停止。因此，利用光，我们有能力测量神经细胞的活动，并根据需要与这些活动进行交互。由于这个原因，小型化和可植入的光操作设备有可能成为检测神经系统如何工作并在其活动中实施纠正的宝贵工具。这项技术可能提供解决方案的例子可以是帕金森？疾病、癫痫或神经系统受损部分的增强。为了使其在实际应用中有效，这种技术的开发远远超出了单个研究小组的能力。因此，该项目旨在建立物理学家/工程师和神经科学家/医生之间的稳定合作。合作研究将从开发塑料光源和探测器开始，以满足神经细胞分析和操作的需要。然后，我们将通过检查这种装置是否会对神经组织结构或组织工作方式造成损害，来探索这种装置是否适合长期植入。最后，我们将演示一个简单的应用，其中光源和检测器将用于测量实际的神经或大脑信号。

Techniques for the generation and manipulation of light have developed rapidly in recent years, leading to the possibility of optical systems miniaturised to a size previously considered unattainable. At the forefront of these developments are plastics that allow the manufacturing of light sources and detectors with a flexibility in colour, shape, size and structure that pushes the limits of miniature optical systems even further. We are barely beginning to understand the revolutionary impact of these technological advances on the medical field, as this requires a deep integration between physical and medical sciences. In this project, we will be exploring it by using miniature plastic light sources and detectors to build implantable devices, with the potential to transform the way we approach the understanding and the treatment of the nervous system. By measuring the blood colour around nerve cells, it is possible to monitor in very fine detail how oxygen is used by the nervous tissue. This, in turn, tells us about the tissue activity level. It is also possible to modify the nerve cells so that they respond to light. By illuminating them with light of a given colour, the modified cells are activated, and by using a different colour, the activity is temporarily stopped. Using light, we have therefore the capability to measure the activity of nerve cells, and to interact with such activity as needed. For this reason, miniaturized and implantable light manipulation devices have the potential to become invaluable tools in detecting how the nervous system works, and to implement corrections in its activity. Examples where this technology may offer solutions can be Parkinson?s Disease, epilepsy, or the augmentation of damaged parts of the nervous system. For it to be effective in real-life applications, the development of such a technology goes well beyond the capabilities of a single research group. The project will therefore aim to establish a stable collaboration between physicists/engineers and neurosceintists/medical doctors The collaborative research will start by developing plastic light sources and detectors tailored to the needs of nerve cell analysis and manipulation. We will then explore the suitability of such devices for long-term implants, by checking if they may cause damage to the nerve tissue structure or to the way the tissue works. Finally, we will demonstrate a simple application, in which the light sources and the detectors will be used to measure an actual nerve or brain signal.