Engineering Photonic Transmission Inside Brain Nerve Fibers

" ... from a physiological phenomena point of view [5], all living cells of organisms have also the potential to emit natural photons due to chemical and physiological interactions [6]–[7][8], although those are very weak; however, scientists are engaging in a broad range of studies [9]–[10][11][12][13] to develop new techniques such as chemo brain for photon release with the aim of neuronal signaling. It has proved that neurons contribute most to photon generation in the body [14] and enable continuous production of biophotons [15]–[16][17]. The intensity of biophoton emissions correlates with some neural activities, such as neuronal membrane depolarization and stimulation of ions such as Ca2+ and K+ [18], [19]. Biophotons primarily stem from the bioluminescent radical and non-radical reactions of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species. It has been proven that the oxidative metabolism of mitochondria functions as the main source of photon production inside a neuron [5], [19]–[20][21]. Despite the tiny structures of mitochondria and microtubules inside of axons, they enable optical signals to be conducted inside the nerve fiber and operate as waveguides [22]–[23][24]." {Credits 1}

" Recent researches also indicate that the biochemical reactions, ion-transmembrane, energy level transitions of biomolecular activities in nerve cells can produce biophotons [25], [26]. On the other hand, some neuro-optical manipulations [27] in which light interacts with nerve cells can produce a photonic current inside the nerve cell to operate similar to the incidence of light from external sources to arrive in the nerve fibers [28]. Afterward, photon cell-cell transport can be carried out through axonal routes, which convey signals between nerve cells and transfer photons to adjacent cells. Indeed, axons count as a proper platform for photonic signaling due to having a suitable configuration in which many microtubules and mitochondria exist [21], [29], [30]." {Credits 1}

" Recent findings [31] demonstrate that nerve fibers possess strong absorption in wavelengths close to 0.3 μm . Hence, wavelengths ranging from 0.3 μm to 0.9 μm are chosen for our work." {Credits 1}

" Interestingly, as shown in Fig. 7, the optical behavior of the modeled nerve fiber shows that fiber channels in wavelengths under 500nm function like a multi-mode fiber, and modal dispersion plays a key role in creating distortion along with this range. In wavelengths higher than 500nm, the fiber channel operates like a single-mode fiber. The path loss of nerve fibers is well observed in wavelengths greater than 500nm." {Credits 1}

{Credits 1} 🎪 Maghoul, A., Khaleghi, A., & Balasingham, I. (2021). Engineering Photonic Transmission Inside Brain Nerve Fibers. IEEE Access, 9, 35399-35410. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.