MIT researchers have created soft, battery-free wireless devices that are operable by light and can snugly wrap around parts of neurons such as axons and dendrites without causing damage.
The devices are made from thin sheets of the polymer azobenzene, which rolls into tubes when exposed to light, with their direction and size dictated by variations in the light’s intensity and polarisation.
The team developed a scalable fabrication technique, and have demonstrated that the devices can be integrated with optoelectrical materials to stimulate cells.
The tight connections they form mean very little energy is required to stimulate subcellular regions, meaning the devices could be used to treat brain diseases by modulating electrical neuron activity.