[HN Gopher] Photovoltaic retinal prosthesis restores high-resolu...
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Photovoltaic retinal prosthesis restores high-resolution responses
Author : finphil
Score : 62 points
Date : 2021-03-19 17:59 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.nature.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.nature.com)
| tandr wrote:
| ELI5 anyone? Is this an artificial retina that so many people
| would benefit from? If so, does it connect to an optical nerve?
| est31 wrote:
| In the retina, there are photoreceptor cells that take in light
| and emits excitatory signals to other cells in the retina that
| then do some basic pattern recognition and send the signal to
| the brain (Some of this pattern recognition is re-done in the
| brain but that's not really relevant in this instance).
|
| You can excite neurons by giving them electric pulses via
| electrodes.
|
| Some people are blind because their photoreceptor cells can't
| convert light into electric pulses (Retinitis pigmentosa).
| These people can be helped by artificial implants that do this
| conversion step, like the one proposed here. The device is
| split into little compartments and when light reaches one of
| them, the compartment converts the light into an electric
| signal, with an electric contact right on the cell. There seems
| to be no amplification involved, it's only living from the
| energy of the light. The tissue then gets that signal and
| processes it as vision. Cool, isn't it?
|
| Disclaimer: not an expert, so correct me if I'm wrong.
| tandr wrote:
| Thank you! Do you know how does it connect hardware to a
| "wetware"? "Just plug the nerve into this socket"?
| devindotcom wrote:
| In older retinal prosthesis work it was a microelectrode
| array, basically dozens or hundreds of tiny electrodes
| piercing the retina and running a current. In this case the
| dots turn light into current so when you shine a light on
| them they activate the retinal cells near them.
| devindotcom wrote:
| This is a really cool approach - I covered it yesterday and
| here's the EPFL news post as well.
|
| https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/18/quest-for-prosthetic-retin...
|
| https://actu.epfl.ch/news/retinal-implants-can-give-artifici...
|
| Still lots and lots of work to do but it obviates the issues with
| previous retinal implants that you basically needed to run a
| cable into the eye. In retrospect photovoltaics are obvious
| because that's more or less how the eye works in the first place.
| [deleted]
| elric wrote:
| This is one of those great ideas that seems obvious in
| retrospect. I hope it pans out. I was wondering how this
| stimulated the optic nerve, but it seems like it doesn't do so
| directly, but rather it interacts with the existing retina?
| devindotcom wrote:
| Yeah, this would be for blindness that's upstream from the
| nerve, for instance an opsin deficiency or something that
| makes the light-sensitive cells in the retina not work. The
| underlying (actually overlying since the retina is kind of
| inside-out) nervous network might still function fine, it
| just doesn't have an input. The photovoltaic dots would
| create a very small localized charge that would stimulate the
| higher-level cells rather than the rods and cones.
| krastanov wrote:
| This is amazing! I have not finished reading it, but I wonder
| whether they are already thinking about human augmentation. I
| have average vision, but would love to be able to see infrared
| and UV thanks to an implant.
| wongarsu wrote:
| We are still a good way off replicating the resolution of the
| human eye in an implant, and generally we have a hard time
| matching the impressive dynamic range of our eyes. Give it
| another 20 years.
|
| Until then something that converts infrared and UV to the
| visible range is a lot more reachable (whether that's an
| implant like an intraocular lens, simple contact lenses, or
| just eye drops)
| kiba wrote:
| I love the idea, but there may be privacy implications. It
| reminded me of learning about cameras that can accidentally see
| through clothes that manufacturer had to to recall to remove.
| ampdepolymerase wrote:
| You already can (if you are willing to be a clinical trial
| guinea pig). There are nanoparticle eye drops that enables
| that.
| krastanov wrote:
| Could you elaborate or give some links?
| [deleted]
| mrkstu wrote:
| An article about it working in mice:
| https://newatlas.com/nanoparticle-near-infrared-
| vision/58686...
|
| Assume that they are now doing human trials.
| superkuh wrote:
| As someone with progressive retinal tearing this is great news.
| I've been reading about methods of turning interneurons into
| photoactive elements using simple chemicals injected into the eye
| but this seems a lot more straightforward.
| ben1040 wrote:
| As someone who stands a decent chance of developing age related
| macular degeneration 30 years from now, I love any and all news
| like this.
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
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