A new wireless device has been recently crafted with Nanotube material that might help restore sight to blind retinas.
New progress towards a prosthetic retina could help alleviate conditions that result from problems with this vital part of the eye.
The researchers combined semiconductor nanorods and carbon nanotubes to create a wireless, light-sensitive, flexible film that could potentially replace a damaged retina.
The proof-of-concept artificial retina was developed by an international team led by Prof. Yael Hanein of Tel Aviv University's School of Electrical Engineering and head of TAU's Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and including researchers from TAU, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Newcastle University.
Prof. Yael Hanein of Tel Aviv University's School of Electrical Engineering, said that compared to the technologies tested in the past, this new device is more efficient, more flexible, and can stimulate neurons more effectively.
The new prosthetic is compact, unlike previous designs that used wires or metals while attempting to sense light, and additionally, the new material is capable of higher spatial resolution, whereas older designs struggled in this area.
The researchers tested the new device with chick retinas which were not yet light sensitive to prove that the artificial retina is able to induce neuronal activity in response to light.
Patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which usually affects people age 60 or older who have damage to a specific part of the retina, will stand to benefit from the nanotube device if it is proved compatible in animals over the long term.
The study is published in Nano Letters.
