Multimaterial Glass Fiber Probe for Deep Neural Stimulation and Detection

摘要

The ability for simultaneous modulation and monitoring of neural activitiesin deep tissues and at the single-cell level merits significant scientific andtechnological potential, yet is met with limited success using conventionalprobes. Here, a new type of tiny multimaterial glass fiber probe is proposedand successfully constructed with the combination of robust mechanicalresponse, strong light-delivering ability, and excellent electrochemical properties,based on high throughput and scalable co-drawing strategy. Guided bythe multimaterial integration principle, the configuration of the probes canbe rationally tuned including their material combination, physical size, thenumber and spatial distribution of the electrode, and even the waveguidestructure. The bending stiffness, optical loss, and electrical impedance can becontrolled to be larger than 4900 N m~(?1) and as small as 0.01306 dB cm~(?1) and19.63 MΩ μm~2 at 1 kHz, respectively. To prove the utility, it is demonstratedthat the probes allow for simultaneous deep neural stimulation and detectionfor more than 2 weeks at a single cellular level. This work not only promotesthe development of neuroscience and brain science through the ability tomanipulate neural circuits in the deep brain but also provides new directionsfor expanding the scope of functional fibers.