RETINAL ELECTRICAL STIMULATION IN PHOTORECEPTOR LOSS

描述(改编自申请人的摘要)：使用电子设备 刺激旁路已变得无功能的神经元，植入 神经假体，如人工耳蜗，已经使患者康复 对他们来说，没有其他治疗方法。申请人提出一项类似的 该方法可使部分因视网膜色素变性失明的患者受益 和老年性黄斑变性，这是导致失明的两个主要原因。这个 到目前为止的结果支持这一方法，并表明愿景是兼容的 由于机动性和大字印刷，阅读是可能的。下一个关键步骤 就是确定这种方法所能承受的最大分辨率。在……里面 在这项提案中，申请者描述了实现以下目标所需的关键实验 这个目标。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant's abstract): By using electrical stimulation to bypass neurons which have become non-functional, implanted neural prostheses such as the cochlear implant have rehabilitated patients for whom there is no other treatment. The applicant proposes that a similar approach could benefit a subset of patients blind from retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, two leading causes of blindness. The results to date have supported this approach and show that vision compatible with mobility and large print reading is possible. The next critical step is to determine the maximum resolution affordable by such an approach. In this proposal, the applicant delineates key experiments necessary to achieve this goal.