TUCSON (KVOA) - A tiny device puts researchers one step closer to developing new treatments for depression, chronic pain, epilepsy and more. It is all thanks to University of Arizona engineering researchers.
This new tool gives a better understanding of how the brain works, by shining light at specific neurons in the brain to suppress or exciting activity.
This method called optogenetics allows scientists to develop and test potential cures for illnesses such as neurodegenerative diseases.
The wireless device sends light through the skull.
Philipp Gutruf, a biomedical engineering assistant professor at UArizona is one of the researchers who helped develop the device.
He says the battery-free device is implanted just under the skin.
"We don't have tools that allow us to look into the brain, right, you will have to cut it open, which is not something that we would want to do," said Gutruf. "Having new tools in order to probe how the brain functions are critical. That stands between us and finding, you know, solutions for diseases such as Parkinson's or any other neurodegenerative diseases."
Activating certain neurons in the brain and then looking at the response allows researchers to decode a very complex system.
Gutruf says the tool will allow scientists to do a wide range of experiments that were previously not possible.
There is still a long way to go before the technology becomes available for humans. However, researchers say that this lays the foundation for a precursor to new treatments that could be drug-free.
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August 12, 2021 at 08:32AM
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UArizona engineering researchers develop device to study brain activity - KVOA Tucson News
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