Development of a photothermal stimulator array for controlled neuron stimulation

项目摘要/摘要 视网膜退行性疾病，如视网膜色素变性(RP)和老年性黄斑变性 (AMD)，影响着1000多万美国人。不幸的是，许多患者最终会因为 对于这些疾病，没有可用的治疗方法。视网膜假体是唯一可用的选择 人工接口以恢复受损的神经路径。基于电刺激的视网膜假体已经被 由于概念上的简单性而被广泛使用。然而，由于信号的复杂性，它面临着许多障碍 界面，尤其是高空间分辨率。一种基于激励原理的新方法 具有直接光诱导热信号的神经细胞被引入以潜在地提供更多的优势 而不是电刺激方法。然而，这一概念相对较新，而且是必要的工程设计 应该开发出将这种方法转化为视网膜假体的方法。建议的目标是 研究的是创建一个二维光热像素阵列，其中的热刺激是直接的 由入射光图像控制。基于光学刺激方法，这将解决许多 目前电刺激面临的挑战，尤其是大面积电刺激。成功 拟议研究的完成将代表着基于光热的 为光热刺激在视网膜假体中的应用开辟了新的契机。

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.