RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Hearing restoration by a low-weight power-efficient multichannel optogenetic cochlear implant system
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.05.25.114868
DO 10.1101/2020.05.25.114868
A1 Jablonski, Lukasz
A1 Harczos, Tamas
A1 Wolf, Bettina
A1 Hoch, Gerhard
A1 Dieter, Alexander
A1 Hessler, Roland
A1 Ayub, Suleman
A1 Ruther, Patrick
A1 Moser, Tobias
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/05/27/2020.05.25.114868.abstract
AB In case of deafness, cochlear implants bypass dysfunctional or lost hair cells by direct electrical stimulation (eCIs) of the auditory nerve. However, spectral selectivity of eCI sound coding is low as the wide current spread from each electrode activates large sets of neurons that align to a place-frequency (tonotopic) map in the cochlea. As light can be better confined in space, optical cochlear implants (oCIs) promise to overcome this shortcoming of eCIs. This requires fine-grained, fast, and power-efficient real-time sound analysis and control of multiple microscale emitters. Here, we describe the development, characterisation, and application for hearing restoration of a preclinical low-weight and wireless LED-based multichannel oCI system and its companion eCI system. The head-worn oCI system enabled deaf rats to perform a locomotion task in response to acoustic stimulation proofing of concept of multichannel optogenetic hearing restoration in rodents.Competing Interest StatementT.M. is a co-founder of OptoGenTech GmbH.