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arXiv · 1506.01033

Multiplexed Neural Recording Down a Single Optical Fiber via Optical Reflectometry with Capacitive Signal Enhancement

Samuel G Rodriques·Adam H Marblestone·Max Mankin·Lowell Wood·Edward S Boyden
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Abstract

We introduce a fiber-optic architecture for neural recording without contrast agents, and study its properties theoretically. Our sensor design is inspired by electrooptic modulators, which modulate the refractive index of a waveguide by applying an electric field across an electrooptic core material, and allows recording of the activities of individual neurons located at points along a 10 cm length of optical fiber with 20 um axial resolution, sensitivity down to 100 uV and a dynamic range of up to 1V using commercially available optical reflectometers as readout devices. A key concept of the design is the ability to create an "intensified" electric field inside an optical waveguide by applying the extracellular voltage from a neural spike over a nanoscopic distance. Implementing this concept requires the use of ultrathin high-dielectric capacitor layers. If suitable materials can be found -- possessing favorable properties with respect to toxicity, ohmic junctions, and surface capacitance -- then such sensing fibers could, in principle, be scaled down to few-micron cross-sections for minimally invasive neural interfacing. Custom-designed multi-material optical fibers, probed using a reflectometric readout, may therefore provide a powerful platform for neural sensing.

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Samuel G Rodriques, Adam H Marblestone, Max Mankin, Lowell Wood, Edward S Boyden. 2015-06-02. Multiplexed Neural Recording Down a Single Optical Fiber via Optical Reflectometry with Capacitive Signal Enhancement. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.jbo.21.5.057003

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