Multichannel optogenetic stimulation of the auditory pathway using microfabricated LED cochlear implants in rodents

2020-07-22 | journal article; research paper. A publication with affiliation to the University of Göttingen.

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​Multichannel optogenetic stimulation of the auditory pathway using microfabricated LED cochlear implants in rodents​
Keppeler, D. ; Schwaerzle, M.; Harczos, T.; Jablonski, L.; Dieter, A.; Wolf, B. & Ayub, S. et al.​ (2020) 
Science Translational Medicine12(553) pp. eabb8086​.​ DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abb8086 

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Authors
Keppeler, Daniel ; Schwaerzle, Michael; Harczos, Tamas; Jablonski, Lukasz; Dieter, Alexander; Wolf, Bettina; Ayub, Suleman; Vogl, Christian; Wrobel, Christian; Hoch, Gerhard; Abdellatif, Khaled; Jeschke, Marcus; Rankovic, Vladan; Paul, Oliver; Ruther, Patrick; Moser, Tobias 
Abstract
When hearing fails, electrical cochlear implants (eCIs) provide the brain with auditory information. One important bottleneck of CIs is the poor spectral selectivity that results from the wide current spread from each of the electrode contacts. Optical CIs (oCIs) promise to make better use of the tonotopic order of spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) inside the cochlea by spatially confined stimulation. Here, we established multichannel oCIs based on light-emitting diode (LED) arrays and used them for optical stimulation of channelrhodopsin (ChR)-expressing SGNs in rodents. Power-efficient blue LED chips were integrated onto microfabricated 15-μm-thin polyimide-based carriers comprising interconnecting lines to address individual LEDs by a stationary or mobile driver circuitry. We extensively characterized the optoelectronic, thermal, and mechanical properties of the oCIs and demonstrated stability over weeks in vitro. We then implanted the oCIs into ChR-expressing rats and gerbils, and characterized multichannel optogenetic SGN stimulation by electrophysiological and behavioral experiments. Improved spectral selectivity was directly demonstrated by recordings from the auditory midbrain. Long-term experiments in deafened ChR-expressing rats and in nontreated control animals demonstrated specificity of optogenetic stimulation. Behavioral studies on animals carrying a wireless oCI sound processor revealed auditory percepts. This study demonstrates hearing restoration with improved spectral selectivity by an LED-based multichannel oCI system.
Issue Date
22-July-2020
Journal
Science Translational Medicine 
Project
EXC 2067: Multiscale Bioimaging 
Organization
Institut für Auditorische Neurowissenschaften 
Working Group
RG Moser (Molecular Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology of Sound Encoding) 
ISSN
1946-6234
eISSN
1946-6242
Language
English

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