NeuroLux

NeuroLux awarded NIH STTR Phase I Grant

NeuroLux, an early stage biotech company based in Champaign, IL, has been awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop wireless, battery-free devices for programmable fluid delivery and optogenetic stimulation, in designs fully compatible with the existing NeuroLux HF wireless electronic platform and control software.

 

Conventional in vivo technologies for localized, temporally restricted pharmacological delivery for neuroscience research require cannula-based interfaces that deliver intracerebral fluids through tubing connected to external infusion pumps. Although such hardware can now be paired with optical fibers for photo stimulation and optogenetics, such existing approaches are not readily adaptable for tether-free, wireless operation.

 

In work supported by this STTR grant, engineers at NeuroLux will create a low-cost, manufacturable system that eliminates these and other disadvantages of previously reported technologies.  These miniaturized, lightweight platforms will feature ultralow power consumption, battery-free operation with capabilities in user-programmable delivery of multiple pharmacological agents and optical stimulation events. A successful outcome will yield a versatile technology for broad distribution to the neuroscience community, with a revolutionary unified set of capabilities in targeting specific neuronal populations in freely-moving animals over an unlimited period of time.

 

About NeuroLux

NeuroLux specializes in the commercialization of enabling technologies for neuroscience research, with an emphasis on advanced tools for experiments in optogenetics. The company, based in Champaign-Urbana, collaborates with the Rogers Research Group at Northwestern University, Gereau Lab, and the Bruchas Laboratory at Washington University to conduct the aforementioned research and development efforts.