Wirelessly powered chip shines light on brain activity

The technology was designed for use as a research tool and has been demonstrated successfully in rats.

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According to Yaoyao Jia, corresponding author of a paper on the work and an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University, the goal was to create a tool to help better understand the behaviour of different regions of the brain, particularly in response to neural stimulation.

“This tool will help us answer fundamental questions that could then pave the way for advances in addressing neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease,” she said in a statement.

The new technology is fully wireless with researchers able to power the 5×3 mm²chip, which has an integrated power receiver coil, by applying an electromagnetic field. In tests on lab rats, the electromagnetic field surrounded each rat’s cage, meaning the device was fully powered regardless of what the rat was doing. The chip is also capable of sending and receiving information wirelessly.