Neuron absorption study and mid-IR optical excitations

Neuronal optical excitation can provide non-contacting tools to explore brain circuitry and a durable stimulation interface for cardiac pacing and visual as well as auditory sensory neuronal stimulation. To obtain accurate absorption spectra, we scan the transmission of neurons in cell culture medium, and normalize it by subtracting out the absorption spectrum of the medium alone. The resulting spectra show that the main neuronal absorption peaks are in the 3000- 6000nm band, although there is a smaller peak near 1450nm. By coupling the output of a 3μm interband cascade laser (ICL) into a mid-IR fluorozirconate fiber, we can effectively deliver more than 1J/cm2 photon intensity to the excitation site for neuronal stimulation.