Novel sensor implant radically improves significance of NMR brain scans

Date: November 26, 2019, No. Researchers of Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics and University of Stuttgart present a new method that shows single neuron data [Picture: whitehoune - stock.adobe.com, Max-Planck-Institut für biologische Kybernetik, Universität Stuttgart. Montage: Martin Vötsch, design-galaxie.de. A team of neuroscientists and electrical engineers from Germany and Switzerland developed a highly sensitive implant that enables to probe brain physiology with unparalleled spatial and temporal resolution. Now published , they introduce an ultra-fine needle with an integrated chip that is capable of detecting and transmitting nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data from nanoliter volumes of brain oxygen metabolism. The breakthrough design will allow entirely new applications in the life sciences. The group of researchers led by Klaus Scheffler from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics and the University of Tübingen as well as by Jens Anders from the University of Stuttgart identified a technical bypass that bridges the electrophysical limits of contemporary brain scan methods.