Implanting fibrous optical waveguide into tissue and organ for light delivery and collection is among the most effective ways to overcome tissue turbidity, a long-standing obstacle for biomedical optical technologies. Here we report a citrate-based material platform with engineerable opto-mechano-biological properties and demonstrate a new type of biodegradable, biocompatible, and low-loss step-index optical fiber for organ scale light delivery and collection. By leveraging the rich designability and processibility of citrate-based biodegradable polymers, two exemplary biodegradable elastomers with a fine refractive index difference and yet matched mechanical properties and biodegradation profiles were developed. Further, we developed a two-step fabrication method, fabricated flexible and low-loss (0.4db/cm) optical fibers, and performed systematic device characterizations, including optical, spectroscopic, mechanical, and biodegradable studies. In addition, we demonstrated the proof of concept of image transmission through the citrate-based fibers and conducted <i>in vivo</i> deep tissue light delivery and fluorescence sensing in an animal study on a Sprague Dawley (SD) rat, laying the groundwork for realizing future implantable devices for long-term implantation where deep-tissue light delivery, sensing and imaging are desired, such as cell/tissue/scaffold imaging in regenerative medicine and <i>in vivo</i> optogenetic stimulation.

Flexible biodegradable citrate-based polymeric step-index optical fiber

254th National Meeting (2017)

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