Optogenetic neurostimulation of auricular vagus using flexible OLED display technology to treat chronic inflammatory disease and mental health disorders

The viability of a new biophotonic alternative to conventional prescription-drug-based treatments is explored for inflammatory disease and mental health disorders using a non-invasive drug-free optogenetics-based therapy to treat patients by optically stimulating selected afferent branches of the auricular vagus nerve transcutaneously via the outer ear using a high-resolution, addressable array of organic light emitting diodes (OLED) manufactured on a flexible plastic substrate. Preliminary analysis and optical measurements indicate that our 620 nm flexible red OLED display technology is bright enough to induce therapeutic optical stimulation in optogenetically modified neural tissue.