Posted on 10/19/2019 12:25:58 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have developed ultrasensitive nanoscale optical probes to monitor the bioelectric activity of neurons and other excitable cells. This novel readout technology could enable scientists to study how neural circuits function at an unprecedented scale by monitoring large numbers of individual neurons simultaneously. It could also lead to high-bandwidth brain-machine interfaces with dramatically enhanced precision and functionality.
Monitoring the electrical activity of neurons is conventionally done using microelectrode arrays, but these are difficult to implement at a large scale and offer limited spatial resolution. In addition, the electronic wiring required for readout is a major limitation of microelectrodes, according to Ali Yanik, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Santa Cruz. Yanik's lab at UCSC's Baskin School of Engineering, working with collaborators at the University of Notre Dame, has developed extracellular nanoprobes that enable ultrasensitive optical monitoring of electrophysiological signals. Other optical monitoring techniques require genetic modifications to insert fluorescent molecules into cell membranes, which rules out their use in humans.
Yanik's approach is similar to extracellular microelectrode techniques, except that the readout mechanism is optical and the probes have nanoscale dimensions. In addition, it yields a much brighter signal and higher signal-to-noise ratios than fluorescence-based probes.
Yanik described two possible approaches for using the optical nanoprobes to monitor neural activity in living animals, including humans. The probes could be integrated with an optical fiber into a flexible and biocompatible implant, or they could be synthesized as nanoparticles suspended in a colloidal solution, with surface proteins attached to enable the probes to bind to specific cell types.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Mind reading next by satellites and cell phone apps unbeknownst to the individual
Oh I see you have your new probe installed. Don’t be so sad, everyone here gets one.
Just don’t get any probes installed on Uranus
I didn’t see anything that suggests that it might eventually work restoring connections to a spinal cord but it it can be used to connect your brain to an exoskeleton that would work.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.