Aculight Corp. of Bothell, Wash., and Vanderbilt University of Nashville, Tenn., have received a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research contract to develop a compact, low-cost optical neural stimulator. The $200,000 award granted by the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., will allow Aculight to refine a prototype laser so that a team of biomedical engineers and medical researchers at the university can conduct feasibility studies.

Aculight’s fiber-coupled laser has been designed as an alternative to electrical stimulators for applications such as locating and treating peripheral nerves, brain mapping and nerve conduction studies.