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26 - Photovoltaic retinal prosthesis for restoring sight to the blind

from Part V - Bionics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2015

By
Daniel Palanker ,
Yossi Mandel ,
Keith Mathieson ,
James Loudin ,
Georges Goetz ,
Philip Huie ,
Lele Wang ,
Theodore I. Kamins ,
Richard Smith  and
James S. Harris
...Show all authors
Edited by
Sandro Carrara  and
Krzysztof Iniewski
Daniel Palanker
Affiliation:
Stanford University
Yossi Mandel
Affiliation:
Bar Ilan University
Keith Mathieson
Affiliation:
University of Strathclyde
James Loudin
Affiliation:
Stanford University
Georges Goetz
Affiliation:
Stanford University
Philip Huie
Affiliation:
Stanford University
Lele Wang
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
Theodore I. Kamins
Affiliation:
Stanford University
Richard Smith
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Cruz
James S. Harris
Affiliation:
Stanford University
Alexander Sher
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Sandro Carrara
Affiliation:
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Krzysztof Iniewski
Affiliation:
Redlen Technologies Inc., Canada
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Summary

Introduction

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness in the developed world, with an incidence of 1:500 in patients aged 55–64, and 1:8 in patients over 85 [1]. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited disease blinding about 1 in every 4000 individuals much earlier in life [2]. In both of these conditions the photoreceptor layer degenerates, while the inner retinal neurons survive to a large extent [3–5]. Electrically activating these neurons provides an alternative route for visual information and raises hope for the restoration of sight to the blind.

In a normal retina, photoreceptors convert light into neural signals that are processed by inner retinal neurons, leading to generation of action potentials in the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). These signals travel to the brain through the optic nerve and serve as the basis for visual perception. Electrical stimulation of the retina with microelectrodes can also produce action potentials in RGCs, creating spatially patterned percepts of light called phosphenes. Indeed, recent clinical trials with retinal prosthetic electrode arrays have restored visual acuity to subjects blinded by retinal degeneration up to 20/1200 using epiretinal placement (facing the ganglion cell side) [6], and up to 20/550 with subretinal implantation [7]. While this serves as an important proof of concept with clinically useful implications, existing retinal prosthesis designs have a number of shortcomings.

Type
Chapter
Information
Handbook of Bioelectronics
Directly Interfacing Electronics and Biological Systems
 , pp. 325 - 338
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2015

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References

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