BME Team Uses Wireless Device to Cast Light on Brain's Inner Workings

Researchers at BME, George Washington University and Northwestern University have created an ultra-small, wireless, battery-free device that uses light to record individual neurons so neuroscientists can see how the brain is working. Philipp Gutruf, leader of the Gutruf Lab, assistant professor of BME and member of the university's BIO5 Institute, was the primary UArizona faculty member involved.

According to the team's study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the process first involves tinting select neurons with a dye that changes in brightness depending on activity. Then, the device shines a light on the dye, making the neurons' biochemical processes visible. The device captures the changes using a probe only slightly wider than a human hair, then processes a direct readout of the neuron's activity and transmits the information wirelessly to researchers.

"As biomedical engineers, we are working with collaborators in neuroscience to improve tools to better understand the brain, specifically how these individual neurons – the building blocks of the brain – interact with each other while we move through the world around us," said lead study author Alex Burton, a BME doctoral student and member of the Gutruf Lab.