Organic LEDs for neurostimulation: learning from the display industry

Already prevalent in smartphone displays and TVs, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are also gaining traction for a range of biomedical applications. Their main advantage over conventional LEDs and other light sources here is that they can be integrated on various substrates. Over the past years, we systematically optimized OLED technology for use in optogenetics, which is the light-based control of neuronal behaviour. We have focused on brightness, spectrum, as well as on stability and passivation. We have now demonstrated shank-shaped micro-OLED arrays with 1024 individually addressable pixels, each ca. 20 µm in size that allow to control neuronal activity with unprecedented local specificity. In further recent work, we integrated OLEDs directly on acoustic antennae, thus obtaining the world’s most compact wirelessly powered light source. Finally, we are also exploring fully fluidic devices based on electrochemiluminescence to gain full flexibility over device form factor.