Flexible fiber implants treat your brain without hurting it

Brain implants are limited right now -- they typically measure just one thing at a time, and their stiff wiring can wreck tissue if the device stays in place for long enough. Neither of those problems will matter if MIT's flexible fiber implant becomes a practical reality, though.The school's researchers have developed very thin (almost nanoscale), flexible polymer fibers that have customizable channels for carrying chemicals, electricity and light. These strands could not only treat a patient with drugs and light stimulation, but measure the response with electrodes; you'd know whether or not your medicine is working. The bendy, unintrusive design should also be safe for your body, making it possible to tackle long-term illnesses.The current fiber production method is slow, and it'll likely be a long while before you find it in a hospital. However, the breakthrough raises the possibility that doctors will eventually have a comprehensive way of fighting Parkinson's and other neurological disorders. It may not lead to cures, but it could easily improve your quality of life if you're ever a patient -- you'd get just the right treatments delivered directly to your brain, even if your condition changes over time.