News Release

无线光学耳蜗植入物能用LED灯来恢复鼠类的听力

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Wireless, Optical Cochlear Implant Uses LED Lights to Restore Hearing in Rodents (2 of 7)

video: A 3D x-ray visualization of an implanted cochlea in a rat. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the Jul. 22, 2020, issue of Science Translational Medicine, published by AAAS. The paper, by D. Keppeler at University Medical Center Göttingen in Göttingen, Germany; and colleagues was titled, "Multichannel optogenetic stimulation of the auditory pathway using microfabricated LED cochlear implants in rodents." view more 

Credit: [Credit: D. Keppeler <i>et al., Science Translational Medicine</i> (2020)]

科学家们创制了一种基于LED灯的光学耳蜗植入物,它能安全且部分恢复失聪大鼠和沙鼠的听觉。与目前基于电的植入物(常有音质不良问题)相比,他们所设计的基于光的方法能使之向听神经发送定位更精准的信号。这项技术还比以前的实验性光学植入物有所改进,提示它能提高用耳蜗植入物治疗听力损害的临床可行性。人工耳蜗植入物是一种生物医学装置,它能部分恢复失聪患者的听力;受该病影响者约占5%的全球人口。大多数的人工耳蜗植入物是通过用电极接头来复制声音的,但其所产生的电刺激并不十分明确,它往往会波及大片的神经,导致声音细节不足及较差的听觉品质。Daniel Keppeler和同事转尔用光学耳蜗植入物;这是一种另类设计:用光而非电来刺激感知声音的神经元,而这些神经元之前通过基因改造而能对光做出反应。与其它植入物不同,他们的无线装置能用多个刺激通道,能将蓝色LED光的节能芯片整合以激活耳蜗内的基改神经元。科学家证实,当该装置被植入失聪大鼠和沙鼠体内时,其产生的信号比以前所设计装置的信号更具选择性,这些动物在数周时间内成功地完成了基于声音的行为测试。Keppeler等人提到,在进行临床研究测试前,需要做更多的工作来解决该装置庞大的体积和宽泛的光等问题。

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