3 ms·

Why not try far infrared, or radio?

• whymauri 6y ago
  I don't know much about far infrared, but the 6-7mm penetration in this paper seems deeper than the ~4mm penetration I recall reading about for UCNP-NIR.
  • Balgair 6y ago
    To add: Water has an absorption band that is clear to most visible light and the near IR, but it starts to absorb as you go deeper into IR. Many tissues and their light absorption curves can be seen here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-infrared_window_in_biological_tissue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-infrared_window_in_biolog...
• tbenst 6y ago
  You need an actuator to induce current into the neuron. In this case, a light-sensitive ion channel, which have proved highly effective.
  • mattkrause 6y ago
    People have actually used infrared to stimulate neurons directly. The mechanism is a little weird, and may be a combination of direct heating (e.g., causing chemical reactions to run faster) and activation of temperature-dependent ion channels. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105381191100379X https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105381191... Radio is probably much too fast--the time constant of a neuron is on the order of 10ms, so unless you're pumping a lot of instantaneous power into the neuron, the net effect is likely to be zero.