Blindness poses a significant challenge to global public health. Research has found that retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are the leading causes of blindness due to degenerative retinal diseases. Patients with these conditions lose the ability of photoreceptor cells in the retina to convert external light into electrical signals recognizable by retinal nerve cells, leading to visual field defects and even irreversible blindness.
Recently, a team led by Dr. Xuemin Du from the Intelligent Medical Materials and Devices Research Center at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, published a review article in "Advanced Functional Materials." The researchers systematically summarized the cutting-edge advancements and existing challenges of adaptive interface materials and implants for vision restoration, offering promising prospects for further advancements in vision restoration technologies.
Adaptive Interface Materials and Implantable Devices for Visual Restoration: Schematic Diagram of Principles. Image provided by the research team.
Despite significant advancements in ophthalmology, current clinical methods still cannot restore vision in patients through drug therapy or surgical procedures. However, in the retinas of patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), not only do the retinal nerve cells have a high survival rate, but the visual pathway from the retina to the brain's visual cortex remains intact. This implies that by activating the retinal nerve cells through a certain method, generating neural impulses, and transmitting them to the visual cortex, a certain degree of vision can be restored.
For centuries, human efforts towards visual restoration have never ceased. In recent years, rapid advancements in new materials, engineering technologies, microelectronics, biomedical sciences, and life sciences have brought new hope to visual restoration research.
In light of this, the research team led by Xuemin Du first systematically summarized and discussed the functional principles, design criteria, and biological effects of intelligent interface materials for visual restoration. Furthermore, they reviewed the functional principles of successful visual prostheses in clinical trials in recent years, along with their clinical trial outcomes and the latest developments in commercialization. The team emphasized the importance of interface materials and implanted prostheses in adapting to neural tissues and cell interfaces. They also highlighted the critical issues in the safety, stability, and energy conversion efficiency of existing visual restoration interface materials, as well as the challenges in interface adaptation, signal transduction, and information processing of visual prostheses. Lastly, they discussed the potential development opportunities for visual restoration interface materials and visual prostheses in the future.
For more information, refer to the related paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202314575
