Electrical Stimulation of Neurons with Quantum Dots via Near-Infrared Light.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35499159.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acsnano.2c01989 and PMC identifier 9134491.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Photovoltaic biointerfaces offer wireless and battery-free bioelectronic medicine via photomodulation of neurons. Near-infrared (NIR) light enables communication with neurons inside the deep tissue and application of high photon flux within the ocular safety limit of light exposure. For that, nonsilicon biointerfaces are highly demanded for thin and flexible operation. Here, we devised a flexible quantum dot (QD)-based photovoltaic biointerface that stimulates cells within the spectral tissue transparency window by using NIR light (λ = 780 nm). Integration of an ultrathin QD layer of 25 nm into a multilayered photovoltaic architecture enables transduction of NIR light to safe capacitive ionic currents that leads to reproducible action potentials on primary hippocampal neurons with high success rates. The biointerfaces exhibit low in vitro toxicity and robust photoelectrical performance under different stability tests. Our findings show that colloidal quantum dots can be used in wireless bioelectronic medicine for brain, heart, and retina.
Medical subject headings
- Quantum Dots