Development of a photothermal stimulator array for controlled neuron stimulation

项目总结/摘要 视网膜变性疾病，如视网膜色素变性（RP）和年龄相关性黄斑变性 (AMD)影响了超过1000万美国人。不幸的是，许多患者最终因以下原因而视力丧失： 这些疾病没有有效的治疗方法。视网膜假体是唯一可用的选择， 人工接口来恢复受损的神经通路。基于电刺激的视网膜假体已经被 由于其概念简单而被广泛使用。然而，由于信号的复杂性， 接口，特别是高空间分辨率。一种基于刺激原理的新方法 引入具有直接光诱导热信号的神经元细胞以潜在地提供更多优势 而不是电刺激。然而，这一概念相对较新，而且是必要的工程设计 应该开发将这种方法转化为视网膜假体的方法。建议的目标 研究是创建一个二维阵列的光热像素，其中的热刺激直接 由入射光图像控制。基于光学刺激方法，这将解决许多问题。 这是当前电刺激面临的挑战，特别是对于大面积刺激。成功 完成拟议的研究将代表一个革命性的进展， 为光热刺激在视网膜修复中的应用提供了新的契机。

Project Summary/Abstract Retinal degenerative diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), affect more than 10 million Americans. Unfortunately, many patients eventually suffer vision loss due to no available therapeutic cure for these diseases. Retinal prosthesis is the only available option to make artificial interfaces to restore a damaged neural path. Electrical stimulation-based retinal prostheses have been most widely used due to their conceptual simplicity. However, it faces many hurdles due to complex signal interfaces, especially for high spatial resolution. A novel approach based on the principle of stimulating neuronal cells with a direct optical-induced thermal signal is introduced to potentially offer more advantages over the electrical stimulation approach. However, the concept is relatively new, and necessary engineered means should be developed to translate this approach to retinal prostheses. The goal of the proposed research is to create a two-dimensional array of photothermal pixels, of which the thermal stimulation is directly controlled by incoming light images. Based on the optical stimulation approach, this will address many challenges that the current electrical stimulation face, especially for large area stimulation. Successful completion of the proposed research will represent a revolutionary advance on the photothermal-based stimulation method and open a new opportunity of using photothermal stimulation in retinal prostheses.