Feature
Hydrogel Optical Fibers
Researchers are working to coax a class of superbly biocompatible polymer–water hybrids into light-guiding channels for sensing, optogenetics and more.
Engineers from the MIT labs of Polina Anikeeva and Xuanhe Zhao designed a soft hydrogel optical fiber that can be used for optogenetic studies of the peripheral nervous system. [Courtesy of the researchers]
Researchers in biophotonics and biomedical optics pursue a seemingly endless quest for the ideal biocompatible material—a medium that both can transport light efficiently and can hang out long enough in the body to enable meaningful measurements or treatments. One important clue in the search, it turns out, lies in an elementary-school factoid: the average human body is 50% to 60% water.
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