Just an Implant

Alexis Gorin

Farah Laiwalla

Engineering Biomedical Systems (BI920-3B)

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Unless most of the eye is damaged, a subretinal implant, compared to a cortial or epiretinal implant, is the most minimal implant to work with. Unlike the cortial implant, there is not a machinery to worry about, and there are no wires hooked up to the brain. Unlike the epiretinal implant, there are no external pieces and it uses the person's own eye movements, allowing a more natural look to the user and easier use of the technology. The main part of a subretinal implant is simply a stimulation chip, allowing easy use without all the extra macrotechnology used by both of the other types of retinal implants.

A subretinal implant also allows working neurons in the eye to continue processing electrical signals, since they are still intact. Considering that the implant is placed closer to the inner retinal neurons as well, it can also stimulate the eye effectively with a decreased number of currents (Javaheri et al). In the subretinal space, it is also easier to position and fix the implant using non-mechanical devices, leading to less trauma on the eye due to the implantation of the subretinal implant.

Javaheri et al, Michael. "Retinal Prostheses for the Blind." Annals Academy of Medicine Vol. 35 No. 3Mar 2006 141-143. 23 Jul 2008 http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/35VolNo3200604/V35N3p137.pdf.

"Optoelectronic implants to treat visual diseases." OpticsReport. 12 June 2007. Optics Report. 23 Jul 2008 http://www.opticsreport.com/content/article.php?article_id=1007.

Zrenner , Eberhart . "Will Retinal Implants Restore Vision? ." Science Vol. 295. no. 55578 Feb 2002 1022 - 1025. 23 Jul 2008 http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/295/5557/1022.