Optical stimulation of neural tissue

Abstract

Electrical stimulation has been used for decades in devices such as pacemakers, cochlear implants and more recently for deep brain and retinal stimulation and electroceutical treatment of disease. However, current spread from the electrodes limits the precision of neural activation, leading to a low quality therapeutic outcome or undesired side-effects. Alternative methods of neural stimulation such as optical stimulation offer the potential to deliver higher spatial resolution of neural activation. Direct optical stimulation is possible with infrared light, while visible light can be used to activate neurons if the neural tissue is genetically modified with a light sensitive ion channel. Ex..