A wirelessly powered microspectrometer for neural probe-pin device

Abstract

Treatment of neurological anomalies, places stringent demands on device functionality and size. A micro-spectrometer has been developed for use as an implantable neural probe to monitor neuro-chemistry in synapses. The microspectrometer, based on a NASA-invented miniature Fresnel grating, is capable of differentiating the emission spectra from various brain tissues. The micro-spectrometer meets the size requirements, and is able to probe the neuro-chemistry and suppression voltage typically associated with a neural anomaly. This neural probe-pin device (PPD) is equipped with wireless power technology (WPT) enabling operation in a continuous manner without requiring an implanted battery. The implanted neural PPD, together with a neural electronics interface and WPT, allow real-time measurement and control/feedback for remediation of neural anomalies. The design and performance of the combined PPD/WPT device for monitoring dopamine in a rat brain will be presented to demonstrate the current level of development. Future work on this device will involve the addition of an embedded expert system capable of performing semi-autonomous management of neural functions through a routine of sensing, processing, and control.

Miniaturized and Wireless Optical Neurotransmitter Sensor for Real-Time Monitoring of Dopamine in the Brain

“…The power supply for 2.5 V and 3.3 V is regulated by a low dropout regulator (LDO, TPS61200, Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX, USA), supplying stable power to each component. In this system, an AC-DC converter and DC charging module is also integrated, which will be implemented for future integration of this sensing unit with the DBS module and wireless power transfer [29,35]. …”

“…We previously presented a preliminary design of an optical dopamine sensing system, measured its outputs, and characterized its response [28,29]. Here we introduce a miniaturized wireless dopamine sensor as an integral part of a micro-spectrometer, a data acquisition unit, and a wireless data transfer module.…”