UC Riverside

Windows to the Brain (WttB) platform can improve patient care by enabling the delivery and/or collection of light into/from the brain, on demand, over large areas, and on a chronically-recurring basis without the need for repeated craniotomies. WttB holds the transformative potential for facilitating diagnosis and treatment of a wide variety of brain pathologies and neurological disorders including cerebral edema, traumatic brain injury, stroke, glioma, and neurodegenerative diseases.

We have developed a novel transparent nanocrystalline yttria-stabilized-zirconia (nc-YSZ) cranial implant (“window”) that can be used for laser and optogenetic therapy. Since light can be easily transmitted through it without undergoing excessive attenuation—the main obstacle for optical therapy and diagnostics of deep targets—this material was selected as an excellent candidate. To evaluate the potential of nc-YSZ cranial implants for optical therapy and imaging of the brain, we (1) demonstrated increased photon density in the brain of mice qualitatively and quantitatively with WttB in comparison to native skull using optical coherence tomography; (2) developed drug delivery techniques including micro-needling and application of pneumatic pressure to improve the drug perfusion of optical clearing agents to ex-vivo porcine skin; (3) confirmed the in vivo biocompatibility of nc-YSZ using a dorsal window chamber model; (4) evaluated the bactericidal effect of lasers by imaging of bioluminescent E. coli under WttB.