Probe array for simultaneous optogenetic and electrical
This technology is a tiny bio-sensing probe built in layers, like a microscopic tower, that can both record electrical signals from cells and interact with them using light. It starts with a flat electrode pad on a chip surface, extends a microscale pillar upward to penetrate or closely interface with biological tissue, and then covers that pillar with nanoscale antenna structures that can capture or emit light at very precise wavelengths. The result is a single device that can simultaneously do electrical recording and optical stimulation or sensing at the cellular level, something that normally requires two separate and often incompatible tools. This hierarchical construction approach is designed to be manufacturable as arrays, meaning many of these structures can be placed across a chip to map activity across a tissue sample or brain region.
What you could build
A research instrument or implantable probe array for neuroscience and cell biology labs that enables simultaneous optogenetic stimulation and electrophysiological recording at single-cell resolution; primary buyers would be academic neuroscience labs, pharmaceutical companies running in-vitro drug screening, and neurotech device developers.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia neurotech and biomedical device companies, NIH-adjacent research institutions in Northern Virginia, and university spinouts in the neuroscience instrumentation space would be natural partners or licensees.
Readiness: Concept
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Elieser Mejia, Wei Zhou
- Filed
- Patent pending — filed April 3, 2025
- Status
- Application
- Publication number
- US20260126409A1
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.