TY - UNPB
T1 - 3D electronic implants in subretinal space
T2 - long-term follow-up in rodents
AU - Bhuckory, Mohajeet
AU - Wang, Bing-Yi
AU - Chen, Zhijie Charles
AU - Shin, Andrew
AU - Pham-Howard, Davis
AU - Shah, Sarthak
AU - Monkongpitukkul, Nicharee
AU - Galambos, Ludwig
AU - Kamins, Theodore
AU - Mathieson, Keith
AU - Palanker, Daniel
PY - 2023/7/28
Y1 - 2023/7/28
N2 - Photovoltaic subretinal prosthesis (PRIMA) enables restoration of sight via electrical stimulation of the interneurons in degenerated retina, with resolution limited by the 100 μm pixel size. Since decreasing the pixel size below 75 μm in the current bipolar geometry is impossible, we explore the possibility of using smaller pixels based on a novel 3-dimensional honeycomb-shaped design. We assessed the long-term biocompatibility and stability of these arrays in rats by investigating the anatomical integration of the retina with flat and 3D implants and response to electrical stimulation over lifetime – up to 9 months post-implantation in aged rats. With both flat and 3D implants, VEP amplitude decreased after the day of implantation by more than 3-fold, and gradually recovered over about 3 months. With 25 μm high honeycomb walls, the majority of bipolar cells migrate into the wells, while amacrine and ganglion cells remain above the cavities, which is essential for selective network-mediated stimulation of the second-order neurons. Retinal thickness and full-field stimulation threshold with 40 μm-wide honeycomb pixels were comparable to those with planar devices – 0.05 mW/mm2 with 10ms pulses. However, fewer cells from the inner nuclear layer migrated into the 20 μm-wide wells, and stimulation threshold increased over 5 months, before stabilizing at about 0.08 mW/mm2. Such threshold is significantly lower than 1.8 mW/mm2 with a previous design of flat bipolar pixels, confirming the promise of the 3D honeycomb-based approach to high resolution subretinal prosthesis.Competing Interest StatementDaniel Palanker and Ted Kamins- consultant (Pixium Vision) Daniel Palanker - Patent (Stanford University and Pixium Vision)
AB - Photovoltaic subretinal prosthesis (PRIMA) enables restoration of sight via electrical stimulation of the interneurons in degenerated retina, with resolution limited by the 100 μm pixel size. Since decreasing the pixel size below 75 μm in the current bipolar geometry is impossible, we explore the possibility of using smaller pixels based on a novel 3-dimensional honeycomb-shaped design. We assessed the long-term biocompatibility and stability of these arrays in rats by investigating the anatomical integration of the retina with flat and 3D implants and response to electrical stimulation over lifetime – up to 9 months post-implantation in aged rats. With both flat and 3D implants, VEP amplitude decreased after the day of implantation by more than 3-fold, and gradually recovered over about 3 months. With 25 μm high honeycomb walls, the majority of bipolar cells migrate into the wells, while amacrine and ganglion cells remain above the cavities, which is essential for selective network-mediated stimulation of the second-order neurons. Retinal thickness and full-field stimulation threshold with 40 μm-wide honeycomb pixels were comparable to those with planar devices – 0.05 mW/mm2 with 10ms pulses. However, fewer cells from the inner nuclear layer migrated into the 20 μm-wide wells, and stimulation threshold increased over 5 months, before stabilizing at about 0.08 mW/mm2. Such threshold is significantly lower than 1.8 mW/mm2 with a previous design of flat bipolar pixels, confirming the promise of the 3D honeycomb-based approach to high resolution subretinal prosthesis.Competing Interest StatementDaniel Palanker and Ted Kamins- consultant (Pixium Vision) Daniel Palanker - Patent (Stanford University and Pixium Vision)
KW - photovoltaic subretinal prosthesis (PRIMA)
KW - biocompatibility
KW - stability
KW - rats
U2 - 10.1101/2023.07.25.550561
DO - 10.1101/2023.07.25.550561
M3 - Working Paper/Preprint
SP - 1
EP - 20
BT - 3D electronic implants in subretinal space
CY - Cold Spring Harbor, NY
ER -