33 ms·

Wirelessly powered implants that stimulate nerves in mice

31 points by shahryc 11y ago

jcr 11y ago
shahryc, thanks for posting (and reposting) this story. It's some fascinating research. The paper in "Physical Review Applied" (linked in article) is paywalled, but there is a pre-print version available here: http://arxiv.org/abs/1503.01493 http://arxiv.org/abs/1503.01493
imbillgates 11y ago
Holy mouse!! Stanford guys are always doing soemthing fucking awesome.
hliyan 11y ago
Title seems misleading. with a newly developed technique for wirelessly powering *implanted* devices This is not a method of remotely hacking the central nervous system. Rather: "Stanford engineers develop method to wirelessly power implants that stimulate nerves in mice"
- mattlutze 11y ago
  On first glance I thought they were powering the devices with the mouse itself, rather than an external wireless power source. Still a cool article, but, I can't wait until we've gotten computers so efficient that we could tap the current in our bodies to power them. That will be a very cool day, IMHO.
- beambot 11y ago
  Not to mention... John Rogers' research group already did implantable optogenetic stimulators with wireless control and telemetry -- reported in the popular tech press [1] and in the journal Science [2]. The real key contribution for the Stanford team seems to be the wireless power transfer, which is fairly limited by their specialized antenna. [1] http://www.technologyreview.com/news/513446/wireless-micro-leds-control-mouse-behavior/ http://www.technologyreview.com/news/513446/wireless-micro-l... [2] http://www.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1232437 http://www.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1232437 Better Photo: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/340/6129/211/F1.large.jpg http://www.sciencemag.org/content/340/6129/211/F1.large.jpg
- dang 11y ago
  Thanks, we changed the title, though belatedly. You can always email us for more reliably quick corrections (hn@ycombinator.com). We can't read all the threads.
ridgeguy 11y ago
For those who would like background on Karl Deisseroth, whose lab is involved in this work, I recommend this New Yorker article: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/18/lighting-the-brain http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/18/lighting-the-br...
jrjarrett 11y ago
Aw, I thought they'd invented the tasp.[1] [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirehead_(science_fiction) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirehead_(science_fiction)

31 points by shahryc 11y ago

jcr 11y ago

shahryc, thanks for posting (and reposting) this story. It's some fascinating research. The paper in "Physical Review Applied" (linked in article) is paywalled, but there is a pre-print version available here: http://arxiv.org/abs/1503.01493 http://arxiv.org/abs/1503.01493

imbillgates 11y ago

Holy mouse!! Stanford guys are always doing soemthing fucking awesome.

hliyan 11y ago

Title seems misleading. with a newly developed technique for wirelessly powering *implanted* devices This is not a method of remotely hacking the central nervous system. Rather: "Stanford engineers develop method to wirelessly power implants that stimulate nerves in mice"

mattlutze 11y ago
On first glance I thought they were powering the devices with the mouse itself, rather than an external wireless power source. Still a cool article, but, I can't wait until we've gotten computers so efficient that we could tap the current in our bodies to power them. That will be a very cool day, IMHO.
beambot 11y ago
Not to mention... John Rogers' research group already did implantable optogenetic stimulators with wireless control and telemetry -- reported in the popular tech press [1] and in the journal Science [2]. The real key contribution for the Stanford team seems to be the wireless power transfer, which is fairly limited by their specialized antenna. [1] http://www.technologyreview.com/news/513446/wireless-micro-leds-control-mouse-behavior/ http://www.technologyreview.com/news/513446/wireless-micro-l... [2] http://www.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1232437 http://www.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1232437 Better Photo: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/340/6129/211/F1.large.jpg http://www.sciencemag.org/content/340/6129/211/F1.large.jpg
dang 11y ago
Thanks, we changed the title, though belatedly. You can always email us for more reliably quick corrections (hn@ycombinator.com). We can't read all the threads.

ridgeguy 11y ago

For those who would like background on Karl Deisseroth, whose lab is involved in this work, I recommend this New Yorker article: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/18/lighting-the-brain http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/18/lighting-the-br...

jrjarrett 11y ago

Aw, I thought they'd invented the tasp.[1] [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirehead_(science_fiction) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirehead_(science_fiction)