Chennai: Scientists have engineered a tiny brain implant that can be wirelessly recharged from outside the body to control brain circuits for long periods of time without battery replacement.
The researchers believe this brain implant technology may lead to new opportunities for brain research and therapeutic intervention to treat diseases in the brain and other organs.
Published in Nature Communications, the study led by Professor Jae-Woong Jeong, indicated how the device is constructed of ultra-soft and bio-compliant polymers to help provide long-term compatibility with tissue. Geared with micrometer-sized LEDs (equivalent to the size of a grain of salt) mounted on ultrathin probes (the thickness of a human hair), it can wirelessly manipulate target neurons in the deep brain using light.
This study is a step forward from the wireless head-mounted implant neural device he developed earlier. The 2019 version could indefinitely deliver multiple drugs and light stimulation treatment wirelessly by using a smartphone.
The new wireless charging technology addresses the limitations of current brain implants. Wireless implantable device technologies have recently become popular as alternatives to conventional tethered implants, because they help minimise stress and inflammation in freely-moving animals during brain studies, which in turn enhance the lifetime of the devices.
