Overview
- The Nature Electronics study describes the microscale optoelectronic tetherless electrode (MOTE) developed by Cornell collaborators led by first author Sunwoo Lee.
- In mouse tests, devices implanted in the barrel cortex recorded neural spikes and synaptic activity untethered for over a year.
- The implant measures roughly 300 by 70 microns, about the width of a human hair, to reduce tissue disruption compared with larger electrodes.
- An aluminum gallium arsenide diode harvests light for power and emits infrared pulses that encode signals via pulse‑position modulation with on‑chip low‑noise amplification.
- Researchers report the optical, non‑metallic design can function during MRI and could be adapted for other tissues, though the work remains at a preclinical stage.