Temperature-Gated Light-Guiding Hydrogel Fiber for Thermoregulation During Optogenetic Neuromodulation

With the rise of optogenetic manipulation of neurons, the effects of optogenetic heating on temperature-sensitive physiological processes, and the damage to surrounding tissues have been neglected. This manuscript reports the fabrication of a highly temperature-sensitive semi-interpenetrating optical hydrogel fiber (TSOHF) using the integrated dynamic wet-spinning technique. TSOHF exhibits a structural tunable diameter, clear core/sheath structure, tunable temperature-sensitivity, excellent light propagation property (0.35 dB cm− 1, 650 nm laser light), and good biocompatibility (including tissue-like Young’s modulus, stable dimensional stability, and low cytotoxicity). Based on these properties, a potential application of optogenetic regulation of neural tissue (hypoglossal nerve), with controllable temperature using TSOHF was designed and performed. Further, this work provides new insight into molecular design and a practical approach to continually manufacture a temperature-sensitive hydrogel optical fiber for applications in intelligent photomedicine.