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High Resolution Photovoltaic Subretinal Prosthesis for Restoration of Sight

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Abstract

In photovoltaic subretinal prostheses, each pixel converts light into electric current to stimulate the nearby inner retinal neurons. Visual information is projected onto the implant by video goggles using pulsed near-infrared (~880 nm) light. This design avoids the use of bulky electronics and trans-scleral wiring, thereby greatly reducing the surgical complexity. Optical activation of the photovoltaic pixels allows scaling the implants to thousands of electrodes, and multiple modules can be tiled under the retina to expand the visual field.

Similarly to normal vision, retinal response to prosthetic stimulation exhibits flicker fusion at high frequencies (>20 Hz), adaptation to static images, and non-linear summation of subunits in the receptive fields. Photovoltaic arrays with 70 μm pixels restored visual acuity up to a pixel pitch in rats blinded by retinal degeneration, which is only twice lower than natural acuity in these animals. If these results translate to human retina, such implants could restore visual acuity up to 20/250. With eye scanning and perceptual learning, human patients might even cross the 20/200 threshold of legal blindness. Ease of implantation and tiling of these wireless modules to cover a large visual field, combined with high resolution opens the door to highly functional restoration of sight.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Henri Lorach

  2. Department of Ophthalmology and Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Daniel Palanker

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  1. Henri Lorach
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  2. Daniel Palanker
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Correspondence to Henri Lorach .

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  1. Munich, Germany

    Veit Peter Gabel

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Lorach, H., Palanker, D. (2017). High Resolution Photovoltaic Subretinal Prosthesis for Restoration of Sight. In: Gabel, V. (eds) Artificial Vision. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41876-6_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41876-6_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-41874-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-41876-6

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