A ‘science daily’ report stated that until now, all artificial retinal research had used only rigid, hard materials.
The retina is the lightsensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eyeball. Images that come through the eye’s lens are focused on the retina.
However, the new research by Vanessa Restrepo- Schild, a 24-year-old DPhil student and researcher at Oxford University, Department of Chemistry, was the first to successfully use biological, synthetic tissues, developed in a laboratory environment.
The study could revolutionise the bionic implant industry and the development of new, less invasive technologies that more closely resemble human body tissues, helping to treat degenerative eye conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP).
Retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited, degenerative eye disease that causes severe vision impairment due to the progressive degeneration of the rod photoreceptor cells in the retina. Just as photography depends on camera pixels reacting to light, vision relies on the retina performing the same function.
The retina sits at the back of the human eye and contains protein cells that convert light into electrical signals that travel through the nervous system, triggering a response from the brain, ultimately building a picture of the scene being viewed.
Restrepo-Schild led the team in the development of a new synthetic, double layered retina, which closely mimics the natural human retinal process. The retina replica consists of soft water droplets (hydrogels) and biological cell membrane proteins.
Designed like a camera, the cells act as pixels, detecting and reacting to light to create a grey scale image. The Colombian native said: “The synthetic material can generate electrical signals, which stimulate the neurons at the back of our eye just like the original retina.
The study’s findings showed that unlike existing artificial retinal implants, the cell-cultures were created from natural, biodegradable materials and do not contain foreign bodies or living entities.
In this way, the implant was less invasive than a mechanical devise, and was less likely to have an adverse reaction on the body.
Restrepo - Schild added: “The human eye is incredibly sensitive, which is why foreign bodies like metal retinal implants can be so damaging, leading to inflammation and/or scaring."
