Artificial Retina Implant-A try to overcome the faults in existing methods.

A team of scientists from Sweden and Israel are working on artificial retina implant to say goodbye to blindness of people. They have come up with the world’s thinnest retinal implant which is made from layers of gold and organic tattoo ink. As per the report of the researchers in the journal Advanced Materials on May 2, 2018 it’s stated that the implant is five hundred times slimmer than the presently available implants. Apart from this it would be very convenient to use it as the implant is wireless and silicone-free.

The implant has really performed well in the animal models. If the same is achieved in humans it would restore light perception and relieve millions of people from degenerative conditions like retinitis pigmentosa or macular degeneration. It is also believed that this device also treats traumatic injury. Though there is lot of implants available in the market the motto behind this is to overcome faulty photo receptors by equipping the wireless methods.

This implant acts as a by-pass for the faulty photo-receptors instead of swapping out by the artificial ones. It acts directly on retinal ganglion cells. The team crafted the device by painting two layers of organic pigment on a base layer of gold. After this, they immersed this superconductor sandwich in a saltwater solution to mimic the ocular environment. When the device is exposed to light, it becomes charged and generates an electric field which stimulates nearby neurons.

The researches tested the system in two different cases, one in cultured neurons and the other in retinas from chicken embryos that had not yet developed photo-receptors. It was successful as the device generated enough electricity to power surrounding retinal neurons. This was considered as the crowning achievement, by senior author Eric Glowacki, who is a principle investigator at Linköping University in Sweden.

This device got much compliments as it is the first non-silicone freestanding optoelectronic system which is capable of generating such power. This device stands out from the other commercially available implants, as it accomplishes this feat without help from an external battery pack or other hardware. It also serves additional advantages as the use of organic material may reduce the risk of rejection posed by silicone-based implants. The team is presently testing the device in live rabbits to see if it can confer a response to red light, which the animals normally cannot detect. If the team succeeds in this attempt it would surely brings a major change in the retinal treatment methods.