Light-actuated Chemical Stimulator for Retinal Prosthesis Interface

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): More than 12 million Americans are estimated to have retinal degenerative diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Unfortunately, due to no available therapeutic treatment for these diseases, many of patients are eventually suffering vision loss. Retinal prosthesis, which makes artificial neural interfaces to replace damaged neural path, is an only available option for these diseases. Neural prostheses based on electrical stimulation have been most widely used due to their simplicity. However, they face many hurdles when this method is applied to a large number of neural stimulation, which is required in retinal prostheses for high spatial resolution. An alternative approach based on the principle of stimulating the retina with neurotransmitter chemicals is introduced to potentially offer more advantages over the electrical stimulation approach. However, the concept is relatively new and necessary engineered means need to be developed to fully explore the feasibility of the chemical stimulation based approach. The goal of this research is to develop a novel light-activated chemical stimulator, which mimics natural function of photoreceptors in the retina. Thousands of fluidic channels can be activated directly and independently by natural light image without relying on external power source. This unique feature allows unprecedented high resolution neural interface without requiring complex electrical interfaces such as massive signal processing, electrical interconnections, power transmission, and etc. The successful demonstration of the novel light- activated chemical stimulator will represent a critical step towards neurotransmitter-based retinal prosthesis and significantly expand the frontiers of neurotransmitter-based stimulation approach for treating or bypassing damaged regions of nervous system organs.