Wireless, battery-free, subdermally implantable platforms for transcranial and long-range optogenetics in freely moving animals.

Wireless, battery-free, and fully subdermally implantable optogenetic tools are poised to transform neurobiological research in freely moving animals. Current-generation wireless devices are sufficiently small, thin, and light for subdermal implantation, offering some advantages over tethered methods for naturalistic behavior. Yet current devices using wireless power delivery require invasive stimulus delivery, penetrating the skull and disrupting the blood-brain barrier. This can cause tissue displacement, neuronal damage, and scarring. Power delivery constraints also sharply curtail operational arena size. Here, we implement highly miniaturized, capacitive power storage on the platform of wireless subdermal implants. With approaches to digitally manage power delivery to optoelectronic components, we enable two classes of applications: transcranial optogenetic activation millimeters into the brain (validated using motor cortex stimulation to induce turning behaviors) and wireless optogenetics in arenas of more than 1 m2 in size. This methodology allows for previously impossible behavioral experiments leveraging the modern optogenetic toolkit.

A rare case report of pancreatic low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma (LGFMS).

BACKGROUND: Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma (LGFMS) is an uncommon neoplasm generally affecting muscle tissue. It presents rarely in abdominal viscera and even more rarely occurs in the pancreas. All types of pancreatic sarcomas are uncommon, and LGFMS is a rarer still. We present the case of an LGFMS in the pancreas. Because of its rarity, there are no guidelines for appropriate treatment or summations of the natural course of this illness. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 49-year-old female who presented with epigastric pain. She had a prior history of three episodes of acute pancreatitis many years earlier. A CT revealed a pancreatic body mass, which was biopsied. Pathology returned LGFMS. The patient underwent a distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy. She did well after the case and did not require further intervention. CONCLUSION: Though it is exceedingly rare, cases of pancreatic LGFMS should be reported in order to guide clinical decisions. LGFMS has been shown to have high malignant potential in other tissues, and there is no reason to think pancreatic masses will be different. By building a body of evidence about these rare tumors, patient care will benefit.