Photoacoustic Retinal prosthesis

Project summary

Approximately 3 million Americans today suffer from debilitating degenerative retinal disorders of the photoreceptors, including Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), with no hope of restored visual function. This figure is projected to double by the year 2050. Our objective is to change this reality and provide a viable treatment option for individuals suffering from blindness and severe vision loss due to incurable disorders of the outer retina. By harnessing the power of photoacoustics to synthetically stimulate residual inner layers of the diseased retina, our patented photoacoustic retinal stimulation (PARS) approach represents a new paradigm for prosthetic vision to safely restore form vision and overcome challenges where prior technology has failed. This approach follows a multi-step energy conversion pathway whereby light from a highly focused nanosecond pulsed laser irradiates an energy absorbing implant material thereby generating thermoelastic expansion within the material and producing a localized source of ultrasound. These ultrasound waveforms then stimulate activity within the residual neurons of the inner retina that produce vision. Having completed an initial phase of research under the SURPASS program, our research team has developed a prototype test device and completed proof-of-concept experiments demonstrating the ability of optoacoustics to successfully stimulate action potentials in retinal ganglion cells. Our continuing work focuses on maturing our technology to improve performance in key areas for restoring functional form vision and to provide broad applicability across the full domain of retinal disorders that could potentially be treated using this approach. Our continuing work also focuses on expanding our biological studies to further characterize the efficacy and safety of our techniques while optimizing our approach through experiments with retinal explants and live animal models. By leveraging this foundational research, our team aims to spur external investment in a new research program that will ultimately change the hope and reality of many who suffer from the debilitating impacts of incurable blindness.