4 ms·

ELI5 anyone? Is this an artificial retina that so many people would benefit from? If so, does it connect to an optical nerve?

by tandr 6y ago

est31 6y ago
In the retina, there are photoreceptor cells that take in light and emits excitatory signals to other cells in the retina that then do some basic pattern recognition and send the signal to the brain (Some of this pattern recognition is re-done in the brain but that's not really relevant in this instance). You can excite neurons by giving them electric pulses via electrodes. Some people are blind because their photoreceptor cells can't convert light into electric pulses (Retinitis pigmentosa). These people can be helped by artificial implants that do this conversion step, like the one proposed here. The device is split into little compartments and when light reaches one of them, the compartment converts the light into an electric signal, with an electric contact right on the cell. There seems to be no amplification involved, it's only living from the energy of the light. The tissue then gets that signal and processes it as vision. Cool, isn't it? Disclaimer: not an expert, so correct me if I'm wrong.
- tandr 6y ago
  Thank you! Do you know how does it connect hardware to a "wetware"? "Just plug the nerve into this socket"?
  - devindotcom 6y ago
    In older retinal prosthesis work it was a microelectrode array, basically dozens or hundreds of tiny electrodes piercing the retina and running a current. In this case the dots turn light into current so when you shine a light on them they activate the retinal cells near them.
    - tandr 6y ago
      Ok, it goes to existing retina, not substituting but adding some input signal gain, am I correct? So there is still no "interface" to connect to an optical nerve directly for people who do not have functional retina...
      - devindotcom 6y ago
        No, no direct optic nerve interface. That isn't feasible with any technology we know of. The nerve bundle, like the spinal cord, is incredibly dense withe fibers. There's also pre-processing and network stuff that goes on in the retinal layers that you don't want to skip. Fortunately (though I may be wrong here) I believe a lot of blindness upstream from the optic nerve is capable of being addressed by artificial lenses, corneas, replacement fluid, retina augmentation etc. The nerve and central nervous system really represents where it starts getting beyond our depth.

ELI5 anyone? Is this an artificial retina that so many people would benefit from? If so, does it connect to an optical nerve?

by tandr 6y ago

ELI5 anyone? Is this an artificial retina that so many people would benefit from? If so, does it connect to an optical nerve?

est31 6y ago

In the retina, there are photoreceptor cells that take in light and emits excitatory signals to other cells in the retina that then do some basic pattern recognition and send the signal to the brain (Some of this pattern recognition is re-done in the brain but that's not really relevant in this instance). You can excite neurons by giving them electric pulses via electrodes. Some people are blind because their photoreceptor cells can't convert light into electric pulses (Retinitis pigmentosa). These people can be helped by artificial implants that do this conversion step, like the one proposed here. The device is split into little compartments and when light reaches one of them, the compartment converts the light into an electric signal, with an electric contact right on the cell. There seems to be no amplification involved, it's only living from the energy of the light. The tissue then gets that signal and processes it as vision. Cool, isn't it? Disclaimer: not an expert, so correct me if I'm wrong.

tandr 6y ago
Thank you! Do you know how does it connect hardware to a "wetware"? "Just plug the nerve into this socket"?
- devindotcom 6y ago
  In older retinal prosthesis work it was a microelectrode array, basically dozens or hundreds of tiny electrodes piercing the retina and running a current. In this case the dots turn light into current so when you shine a light on them they activate the retinal cells near them.
  - tandr 6y ago
    Ok, it goes to existing retina, not substituting but adding some input signal gain, am I correct? So there is still no "interface" to connect to an optical nerve directly for people who do not have functional retina...
    - devindotcom 6y ago
      No, no direct optic nerve interface. That isn't feasible with any technology we know of. The nerve bundle, like the spinal cord, is incredibly dense withe fibers. There's also pre-processing and network stuff that goes on in the retinal layers that you don't want to skip. Fortunately (though I may be wrong here) I believe a lot of blindness upstream from the optic nerve is capable of being addressed by artificial lenses, corneas, replacement fluid, retina augmentation etc. The nerve and central nervous system really represents where it starts getting beyond our depth.