Retinal prosthetic strategy with the capacity to restore normal vision

Retinal prosthetics offer hope for patients with retinal degenerative diseases. Efforts to improve prosthetic capabilities have focused largely on increasing the resolution of the device’s stimulators (either electrodes or optogenetic transducers). Here, we show that a second factor is also critical: driving the stimulators with the retina’s neural code. Using the mouse as a model system, we generated a prosthetic system that incorporates the code. This dramatically increased the system’s capabilities—well beyond what can be achieved just by increasing resolution. Furthermore, the results show, using 9,800 optogenetically stimulated ganglion cell responses, that the combined effect of using the code and high-resolution stimulation is able to bring prosthetic capabilities into the realm of normal image representation.

Bron: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/08/08/1207035109

Related (sorry it's in Dutch):
Bron: http://tweakers.net/nieuws/70582/implantaat-herstelt-zicht-bij-blinden.html
Implantaten zijn ontwikkeld door het Duitse Retina Implant AG, in samenwerking met het Institute for Ophthalmic Research van de univerisiteit van Tübingen. In de toekomst zouden dergelijke implantaten het gezichtsvermogen van blinden en slechtzienden kunnen herstellen. De testpatiënten konden personen zien en konden zelfs tot op zekere hoogte lezen.