Photovoltaic restoration of high visual acuity in rats with retinal degeneration

H. Lorach, G. Goetz, Y. Mandel, R. Smith, D. Boinagrov, X. Lei, R. Dalal, P. Huie, T. Kamins, J. Harris, K. Mathieson, A. Sher, D. Palanker

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Patients with retinal degeneration lose sight due to gradual demise of photoreceptors. Electrical stimulation of the surviving retinal neurons provides an alternative route for delivery of visual information. We developed subretinal photovoltaic arrays to convert pulsed light into bi-phasic pulses of current to stimulate the nearby inner retinal neurons. Bright pulsed illumination is provided by image projection from video goggles and avoids photophobic effects by using near-infrared (NIR, 880-915nm) light. Experiments in-vitro and in-vivo demonstrate that the network-mediated retinal stimulation preserves many features of natural vision, such as flicker fusion, adaptation to static images, and most importantly, high spatial resolution. Our implants with 70μm pixels restored visual acuity to half of the normal level in rats with retinal degeneration. Ease of implantation and tiling of these wireless arrays to cover a large visual field, combined with their high resolution opens the door to highly functional restoration of sight.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2015 7th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, NER 2015
PublisherIEEE Computer Society
Pages248-251
Number of pages4
ISBN (Electronic)9781467363891
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jul 2015
Externally publishedYes
Event7th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, NER 2015 - Montpellier, France
Duration: 22 Apr 201524 Apr 2015

Publication series

NameInternational IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, NER
Volume2015-July
ISSN (Print)1948-3546
ISSN (Electronic)1948-3554

Conference

Conference7th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, NER 2015
Country/TerritoryFrance
CityMontpellier
Period22/04/1524/04/15

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 IEEE.

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