Abstract: An optical cochlea implant has several laser diodes which are assigned to different sound frequencies and several optical wave guides. A controller activates the laser diodes as a function of a signal describing a sound frequency spectrum in order to generate laser light and to couple the laser light into different ones of the optical wave guides which are designed such as to be suitable for guiding the laser light into different light-sensitive areas of a cochlea. The laser diodes are each activated in several separate pulselets, which individually do not result in a neural activation of the respective light-sensitive area of the cochlea. The duty cycles of the pulselets are not more than 25?%; and the pulselets in which different laser diodes are activated are interleaved in such a way that no more than a quarter of the laser diodes are activated simultaneously.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a mutant ion channel capable of being activated by light (‘light-activated’ ion channel) and having improved properties, nucleic acids and expression vectors encoding the mutant ion channel, cells comprising such nucleic acid or expression vector, devices containing the mutant ion channel, nucleic acid or expression vector as well as respective uses and methods.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a mutant ion channel capable of being activated by light (‘light-activated’ ion channel) and having improved properties, nucleic acids and expression vectors encoding the mutant ion channel, cells comprising such nucleic acid or expression vector, devices containing the mutant ion channel, nucleic acid or expression vector as well as respective uses and methods.