Compliant optrodes for monitoring and stimulating biological tissue with patterned light
Inventors
Wheeler, Jesse J. • Register, Joseph J. • Kumar, Parshant • Segura, Carlos A. • Lissandrello, Charles A. • LeBlanc, John J.
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Assignees
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc
Member
DraperDraper is an independent nonprofit engineering innovation company with a legacy spanning over 90 years, dedicated to delivering transformative solutions for national security, prosperity, and global challenges. Renowned for its pioneering work in guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) systems, Draper partners with government, industry, and academia to engineer advanced technologies in space, defense, biotechnology, and electronic systems. The company leverages multidisciplinary expertise, digital engineering, and a collaborative approach to provide field-ready prototypes, mission-critical systems, and innovative research. Draper’s mission is to ensure the nation's security and prosperity by delivering sustainable, cutting-edge solutions that address the toughest problems of today and tomorrow, while fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce. Draper also invests in the next generation of innovators through robust educational programs, including internships, co-ops, and the Draper Scholars Program, integrating academic research with real-world problem-solving.
Draper is an independent nonprofit engineering innovation company with a legacy spanning over 90 years, dedicated to delivering transformative solutions for national security, prosperity, and global challenges. Renowned for its pioneering work in guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) systems, Draper partners with government, industry, and academia to engineer advanced technologies in space, defense, biotechnology, and electronic systems. The company leverages multidisciplinary expertise, digital engineering, and a collaborative approach to provide field-ready prototypes, mission-critical systems, and innovative research. Draper’s mission is to ensure the nation's security and prosperity by delivering sustainable, cutting-edge solutions that address the toughest problems of today and tomorrow, while fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce. Draper also invests in the next generation of innovators through robust educational programs, including internships, co-ops, and the Draper Scholars Program, integrating academic research with real-world problem-solving.
Publication Number
US-12059575-B2
Publication Date
2024-08-13
Expiration Date
Abstract
A device can include a first compliant optrode. The first compliant optrode can be introduced into a tissue sample and can include a stack of flexible waveguide materials providing a first optical interface. The stack of flexible waveguide materials can have a thickness of less than about 100 microns. The first compliant optrode can be linear and can be configured to bend at a turn radius of less than about 300 microns.
Core Innovation
One aspect of this disclosure is directed to a device that can include a first compliant optrode that can be introduced into a tissue sample and that can include a stack of flexible waveguide materials providing a first optical interface. The stack of flexible waveguide materials can have a thickness of less than about 100 microns, and the first compliant optrode can be substantially linear and can be configured to bend at a turn radius of less than about 300 microns. In some implementations, the first compliant optrode can have at least one mechanical property selected to substantially match a corresponding mechanical property of the tissue sample, and the first optical interface can be configured to provide optical stimulation to at least a portion of the tissue sample.
In some implementations, the device can also include at least a second compliant optrode positioned adjacent to the first compliant optrode and providing a second optical interface, where the first compliant optrode and the second compliant optrode can form a bundle within the device. The first compliant optrode can be configured to deliver a first optical output to a first activation zone of the tissue sample, and the second compliant optrode can be configured to deliver a second optical output to a second activation zone that can substantially overlap with or be spaced away from the first activation zone, and the first and second optical outputs can include light directed in different directions. In some implementations, the device can also include an electrode positioned adjacent to the first compliant optrode, the electrode being defined by a metal layer included within the stack of flexible waveguide materials.
This disclosure relates in part to optical waveguides that are thin and flexible and that can bend light around small turns by forming waveguides from a stack of materials that can include a polymer core and a cladding to create a large difference in refractive index so that light can remain within the core even when bent. The materials can be integrated with other types of structures, such as microfluidic structures or electrical structures, and microfabricated waveguides may be thin and flexible, thereby allowing the waveguides to bend and wrap around small structures. The devices described can be used to both deliver light and capture light for stimulation and monitoring, and intersecting beams of light from multiple optrode sites can be used to produce focused areas of intensity for light delivery and monitoring.
Claims Coverage
The patent contains two independent claims. The following inventive features are extracted from the independent claims as stated in the claim text.
Pore configured to receive a structure in a nerve tissue sample
A pore configured to receive a structure in a nerve tissue sample, wherein the pore is configured to receive an axon and the pore can receive a structure having a radius of less than about 300 microns.
Stacks of flexible waveguide materials providing pluralities of compliant optrodes
A first, second, and third stack of flexible waveguide materials providing respective pluralities of compliant optrodes, each optrode comprising a respective optical interface, where the stacks are wrapped around the pore and emit light in the pore.
Layer and stack thickness limitations
Each of the first and second stacks (and each layer of a stack) of flexible waveguide materials has a thickness of less than about 25 microns, and stacks/wrapped layers are capable of routing light within the core while wrapped around the pore.
Stack composition with electrode, PMMA core, and fluoropolymer cladding
Each of the first and second stacks (and each layer) comprises at least (i) an electrode defined by a metal layer, (ii) a core comprising a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) material having a first index of refraction, and (iii) a cladding comprising a fluoropolymer material coupled to the PMMA core with a second index different from the first.
Optical interface receiving optical response
A fourth optical interface (or an optical interface) that receives light corresponding to an optical response from the structure in the nerve tissue sample, enabling emission and reception of light related to tissue responses.
Directed and focused beam emission to create unique focal points
Respective optical interfaces of the pluralities of compliant optrodes are configured to selectively emit focused beams of light (including directional beams non-orthogonal to a perimeter of the pore) that create a plurality of unique focal points within the pore.
The independent claims cover intraneural devices having pores receiving small-radius nerve structures and comprising thin stacks or layered stacks of flexible waveguide materials with PMMA cores, fluoropolymer claddings, and metal electrodes, where the stacks are thin (< about 25 microns), can be wrapped around the pore while maintaining light in the core, and provide directional/focused optical interfaces to create unique focal points within the pore.
Stated Advantages
Allows routing and bending of light around tight turns to access small anatomical targets that traditional glass fibers cannot reach.
Compliant optrodes can match mechanical properties of soft tissue to enable wrapping around structures and maintain robust interfaces.
Enables miniaturization of arrays or optical waveguides and higher channel counts by bending and routing light around tight turns.
Integration of optical and electrical modes can help minimize undesirable artifacts caused by using only a single mode for stimulation and monitoring.
Intersecting beams from multiple optrode sites can produce focused areas of intensity for light delivery and monitoring and can create sculpted light patterns within sub-divided tissue volumes.
Documented Applications
Optogenetic optrodes for sensitizing and stimulating target neurons with light.
Light stimulation devices and imaging devices.
Endoscopes and other types of optrodes for accessing small anatomical targets.
Intraneural (sieve) structures inserted into severed nerve sections to allow axon regeneration through pores and provide per-pore optical and electrical interfaces.
Multimodal interfaces combining optical stimulation/monitoring and electrical stimulation/monitoring for neural and cardiac tissue.
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