RETINAL ELECTRICAL STIMULATION IN PHOTORECEPTOR LOSS

描述（改编自申请人摘要）：通过使用电气 刺激旁路神经元已成为非功能性，植入 人工耳蜗等神经假体已经使患者康复 没有其他治疗方法 申请人建议， 这种方法可以使一部分因视网膜色素变性而失明的患者受益 和年龄相关性黄斑变性，这是导致失明的两个主要原因。 的 迄今为止的结果支持这种方法，并表明视觉兼容 具有移动性和大印刷阅读是可能的。 下一个关键步骤 是确定这种方法可承受的最大分辨率。 在 在该提案中，申请人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.