Development of a photothermal stimulator array for controlled neuron stimulation

Project Summary/Abstract Retinal degenerative diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), affect more than 10 million Americans. Unfortunately, many patients eventually suffer vision loss due to no available therapeutic cure for these diseases. Retinal prosthesis is the only available option to make artificial interfaces to restore a damaged neural path. Electrical stimulation-based retinal prostheses have been most widely used due to their conceptual simplicity. However, it faces many hurdles due to complex signal interfaces, especially for high spatial resolution. A novel approach based on the principle of stimulating neuronal cells with a direct optical-induced thermal signal is introduced to potentially offer more advantages over the electrical stimulation approach. However, the concept is relatively new, and necessary engineered means should be developed to translate this approach to retinal prostheses. The goal of the proposed research is to create a two-dimensional array of photothermal pixels, of which the thermal stimulation is directly controlled by incoming light images. Based on the optical stimulation approach, this will address many challenges that the current electrical stimulation face, especially for large area stimulation. Successful completion of the proposed research will represent a revolutionary advance on the photothermal-based stimulation method and open a new opportunity of using photothermal stimulation in retinal prostheses.