Towards a Completely Implantable, Light-Sensitive Intraocular Retinal Prosthesis

An electronic retinal prosthesis is under development to treat retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, two presently incurable diseases of the outer retina that afflict millions world-wide. Previous studies have established the feasibility of the retinal prosthesis. Short-term tests in blind humans have shown that degenerated retina will respond to light in a way that is consistent with form vision. Postmortem analysis of human eyes with RP and AMD show a significant survival of inner retinal cells despite near complete degeneration of the photoreceptors in the outer retina. Long-term implants have demonstrated that the retina can tolerate the physical presence of an electrode array without degenerating due to pressure or other mechanical affects. Presented at Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (23rd) held in Istanbul, Turkey on 25-28 Oct 2001. See also ADM001351 for entire conference on CD-ROM.