ABSTRACT
Photonic applications started in earnest in the 1960s with the invention of the laser diode and optical fibers. Neurophotonics, photonics for probing and activating the nervous system, has been used in biomedical applications for quite a while and the use of the modality in the central nervous system stimulation and imaging has been a major field of research. Although, for peripheral nerve stimulation, electrical methods have been the gold standard so far, they have some inherent limitations such as reverse recruitment of the larger diameter nerve fibers by the electric field. Fluorescence microscopy has also been used for peripheral nerve imaging. Peripheral sensory axons marked with the yellow fluorescent protein in transgenic mice were viewed transcutaneously in superficial nerves. In summary, different photonic approaches could be used for peripheral nerve stimulation and imaging. Fibred fluorescence microscopy, an updated technique has been successfully used in imaging axon regeneration–degeneration in peripheral nerves.
