Progress in artificial vision through suprachoroidal retinal implants

• Published in: Journal of neural engineering Vol. 14; no. 4; p. 045002
• Main Authors: Bareket, Lilach, Barriga-Rivera, Alejandro, Zapf, Marc Patrick, Lovell, Nigel H, Suaning, Gregg J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England IOP Publishing 01.08.2017
• Subjects: Animals; bionic eye; bionics; Choroid - diagnostic imaging; Choroid - physiology; Choroid - surgery; Clinical Trials as Topic - methods; Humans; Microelectrodes - trends; neurotechnologies; Photoreceptor Cells - physiology; Retina - diagnostic imaging; Retina - physiology; Retina - surgery; Retinal Degeneration - diagnostic imaging; Retinal Degeneration - surgery; retinal implants; suprachoroidal; vision prostheses; Vision, Ocular - physiology; Visual Prosthesis - trends
• ISSN: 1741-2560; 1741-2552
• DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/aa6cbb

Retinal implants have proven their ability to restore visual sensation to people with degenerative retinopathy, characterized by photoreceptor cell death and the retina's inability to sense light. Retinal bionics operate by electrically stimulating the surviving neurons in the retina, thus triggering the transfer of visual sensory information to the brain. Suprachoroidal implants were first investigated in Australia in the 1950s. In this approach, the neuromodulation hardware is positioned between the sclera and the choroid, thus providing significant surgical and safety benefits for patients, with the potential to maintain residual vision combined with the artificial input from the device. Here we review the latest advances and state of the art devices for suprachoroidal prostheses, highlight future technologies and discuss challenges and perspectives towards improved rehabilitation of vision.