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A team led by Sunwoo Lee, an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University, has developed an extraordinarily small and energy-efficient brain implant called the MOTE (Microscale Optoelectronic Tetherless Electrode). The work, published in Nature Electronics, was carried out in collaboration with researchers at Cornell University. About the size of a grain of salt, the device can record electrical activity in the brain and transmit that information wirelessly for more than a year—an advance that could transform how scientists monitor neurological disorders.
The MOTE’s remarkable performance comes from both its miniature scale and its engineering. Measuring just 300 by 70 microns, it is small enough to minimise immune rejection and prevent electrode drift, two issues that have plagued traditional implants. It is powered by an aluminium gallium arsenide diode that uses light rather than wires or batteries, enabling it to send brain-signal data through tissue using red and infrared laser light. The implant also employs a highly power-efficient communication method—pulse position modulation—similar to that used in satellite optical systems.
A major advantage of the MOTE is its compatibility with MRI scans, which typically pose dangers for patients with implanted devices. Because the implant is optical and extremely small, it does not heat up or move in magnetic fields, allowing scientists to record neural data during MRI imaging—something that could provide far richer insights into brain function. Researchers say future versions could be adapted for use in the spinal cord or housed within artificial skull plates.
The technology adds to a growing wave of neurotech innovations aimed at treating neurological disease, restoring lost functions, and enabling new forms of brain–machine interaction. While ethical and accessibility concerns remain, MOTEs represent a significant step toward safer, less invasive neural implants that could one day support therapies for paralysis, chronic pain, mental illness, and other conditions previously considered out of reach.
