Ultra-short laser pulses propagation through mouse head tissues: experimental and computational study

Diana Galiakhmetova, Viktor Dremin, Aleksandr Koviarov, Dmitrii Stoliarov, Neville Ngum, Raghavan Chinnambedu Murugesan, Rheinallt Parri, Sergei Sokolovski, Edik Rafailov

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We present a prototype and verification of a multichannel laser system applicable to optogenetic research. In vivo photostimulation of neural cells expressing photoconvertible phytochromes or opsins requires enough light irradiation delivery to the brain that cannot be supported by continues-wave (CW) light sources. The use of ultra-short pulsed (USP) lasers operating in the second near-infrared region (II-NIR) and allowing nonlinear activation and deactivation of the photoactuators is a promising method that allows to increase the penetration depth and provide spatio-temporal localisation of radiation in tissues. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of USP light propagation in the skin, skull, and brain of the mouse head, as well as to compare it with the corresponding CW radiation propagation in the 750–830 nm and 1086–1183 nm wavelength ranges. The experimental results and computer modelling demonstrate that about 10–12% of the initial laser radiation can reach the brain tissues. These results prove that under certain conditions, the USP laser radiation can reach a penetration depth with required power that will be sufficient for non-linear activation of opsins/phytochromes in the brain of living animals.
Original languageEnglish
Article number7200311
Number of pages12
JournalIEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics
Volume29
Issue number4
Early online date14 Oct 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2023

Bibliographical note

Copyright © Authors, 2022. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Funder: This work was supported by European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant 863214.

Keywords

  • Absorption
  • Attenuation
  • Laser applications
  • Laser modes
  • Measurement by laser beam
  • Mice
  • Skin
  • fluence rate
  • light propagation
  • mouse head
  • optical properties
  • optogenetics
  • penetration depth
  • transmittance
  • ultra-short pulsed laser light

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