Wearable Array for Ultrasound Stimulation on the Retina

用于视网膜超声刺激的可穿戴阵列

基本信息

批准号：
10766622
负责人：
Hamid Reza Chabok
金额：
$ 27.63万
依托单位：
PHONONZ INC
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2023
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2023-09-30 至 2024-09-29
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10766622
关键词：
Acoustics Animal Model Animals Bionics Blindness Brain Clinic Clinical Complex Contact Lenses Cornea Coupling Data Deterioration Development Devices Electric Stimulation Electrodes Electronics Elements Engineered Gene Engineering Evoked Potentials Eye Focused Ultrasound Friction Future Generations Glass Goals Healthcare Industry Heating Image Implant Investigation Laboratories Macaca Marketing Mechanoreceptors Methods Modeling Neurons Ocular Prosthesis Operative Surgical Procedures Oryctolagus cuniculus Patients Pattern Perception Phase Photoreceptors Population Procedures Property Prosthesis Race Rattus Reporting Resolution Retina Retinal Degeneration Role Sampling Shapes Signal Transduction Small Business Technology Transfer Research Speed Surgeon System Technology Temperature Testing Therapeutic Effect Tissues Transducers Translating Ultrasonic Transducer Ultrasonics Validation Vision Visual Visually Impaired Persons Work absorption acoustic imaging biomaterial compatibility blind college cost cost effective design digital experience experimental study fabrication flexibility gene therapy image processing implantable device implantation in vivo lens loss of function microelectronics neural neuroregulation novel optogenetics phase 1 study product development prototype response retina implantation retinal neuron retinal prosthesis retinal stimulation sensor side effect sight restoration spatiotemporal technology validation translational applications ultrasound wearable device wireless communication

项目摘要

Retinal degeneration involving progressive deterioration and loss of function of photoreceptors is a major cause of permanent vision loss worldwide. Strategies to treat these incurable conditions incorporate retinal prostheses via electrically stimulating surviving retinal neurons with implanted devices in the eye, optogenetic therapy, and sonogenetic therapy. Existing challenges of these strategies include invasive manner, complex implantation surgeries, and risky gene therapy. Therefore, an approach that can apply directly to the naturally existing mechanoreceptors to recover visual function in blind patients is desired. For this purpose, several pioneer studies have explored the feasibility of US stimulation of the retina to potentially evoke neuron activities [1–4]. However, the lack of in vivo demonstration of vision restoration and potential pattern generation from retinal degenerative models at a high spatiotemporal resolution impeded the role of US stimulation as an efficient vision restoration approach. To move beyond these limitations, in our recent study [5], we demonstrated US as a promising approach to induce neuron activities in the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat in vivo, a retinal degenerative animal model widely used for assessing therapeutic effects. Based on our previous successful demonstration, we are developing a novel wearable array for ultrasound stimulation on the retina. It should be noted that our new device is an upgraded version of previous works. Specifically, in this proposal, we are going to engineer, design, and fabricate a prototype of our device for technology validation, reliability, and functionality assessments. This device will consist of an image acquisition unit to capture the visual scenes, an image processing unit to convert visual scenes into ultrasonic stimulation patterns, and a racing ring lens ultrasound transducer array that generates patterned stimulation on the retina. The transducer is flexible and placed outside the eyeball, similar to the application of a contact lens. Ultrasound emitted from the transducer can reach the retina without passing through the lens, thus greatly minimizing the acoustic absorption in the lens. Ultimately, we hope our findings demonstrate that ultrasound stimulation of the retina is a safe and effective approach with a high spatiotemporal resolution, indicating a promising future of ultrasound stimulation as a novel and noninvasive visual prosthesis for translational applications in blind patients.

视网膜变性涉及光感受器功能的逐渐恶化和丧失，是一种主要的视网膜变性。治疗这些无法治愈的疾病的策略包括视网膜。通过在眼睛中植入设备来电刺激幸存的视网膜神经元来制造假体，这些策略的现有挑战包括侵入性的光遗传学疗法和声遗传学疗法。因此，一种可以应用的方法。需要直接作用于自然存在的机械感受器来恢复盲人患者的视觉功能。为此，几项开创性研究探索了美国刺激视网膜以达到治疗目的的可行性。可能激发神经元活动[1-4]，但缺乏视力恢复的体内证据。以及高时空分辨率的视网膜退行性模型的潜在模式生成阻碍了美国刺激作为有效视力恢复方法的作用。局限性，在我们最近的研究 [5] 中，我们证明了 US 是一种有前途的诱导神经元活动的方法在英国皇家外科学院 (RCS) 大鼠体内，一种视网膜退行性动物模型广泛用于基于我们之前的成功演示，我们正在开发一种新颖的治疗效果。用于视网膜超声刺激的可穿戴阵列应该指出的是，我们的新设备是一种。具体来说，在这个提案中，我们将进行工程、设计和改进。制造我们设备的原型，用于技术验证、可靠性和功能评估。设备将由一个用于捕获视觉场景的图像采集单元和一个用于处理视觉场景的图像处理单元组成。将视觉场景转换为超声波刺激模式，以及赛车环透镜超声波换能器阵列在视网膜上产生图案刺激的传感器是灵活的并且位于眼球外部，类似于隐形眼镜的应用，从换能器发出的超声波可以到达视网膜。不穿过透镜，从而大大减少透镜中的声吸收。我们希望我们的研究结果证明超声刺激视网膜是一种安全有效的方法具有高时空分辨率，表明超声刺激作为一种新颖的技术具有广阔的前景以及用于盲人患者转化应用的无创视觉假体。