Vision restoration in photoreceptor-degenerated mice and macaque monkeys using nanowires

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Summary

This study demonstrates that subretinal implants of gold nanoparticle-coated TiO2 nanowire arrays can restore functional vision in both blind mice and macaque monkeys with photoreceptor degeneration, offering a promising prosthetic approach for conditions like retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. For lighting and healthcare applications, these findings suggest that photovoltaic nanomaterial implants could eventually enable blind patients to detect and respond to light stimuli, potentially restoring some degree of light-driven circadian and visual function.

Key Findings

Blind mice with subretinal NW implants achieved a visual acuity of 0.3 cpd, compared to 0.4 cpd in normal mice, and maintained vision detection for up to 22 months post-implant.
Implanted mice were capable of detecting static, moving, and flashing objects at low light intensity thresholds.
Macaque monkeys with subretinal NW implants could detect an LED of 0.5° diameter at a light intensity of 10 μW·mm⁻² in visually-guided saccade experiments.
Chronic in vivo calcium imaging in primary visual cortex (V1) revealed plastic changes in V1 neurons and improved visual information encoding for natural images after NW implantation.