Overview
Therapeutic modulation of the body's peripheral nervous system (PNS) holds significant potential for mitigating and treating disease and other health conditions. The PNS serves as the information superhighway between the spinal cord and other organs, transmitting signals throughout the body.
Current Challenges
Feasible long-term mechanisms for communicating with nerves and pathways have been limited by existing technologies:
- Electrode-based recording: Features some qualities but lacks others needed for chronic use
- Hardwired solutions: Present challenges for chronic implantation
- Existing wireless solutions: Cannot be adequately scaled down to sizes needed to record activity from small-diameter nerves or independently from many discrete sites within a nerve bundle
Neural Dust Solution
Neural dust addresses these constraints through:
- Millimeter-scale size enabling needle injection or non-surgical approaches
- Ultrasound-based power coupling and communication for deep tissue penetration
- Passive design with no batteries requiring replacement after initial implant
- Multiple sensors placed near each other for precise recordings from many sites within a nerve bundle
Applications
The technology enables chronic biosensing and neuromodulation of peripheral nerve targets, opening therapeutic possibilities for conditions affecting the PNS.