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Suprachoroidal Retinal Prostheses

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Artificial Vision

Abstract

Visual prostheses are currently being developed by a number of international teams for the restoration of basic visual function to those with profound vision impairment or blindness. In this exciting field of research and development, a number of unique device designs and surgical placements have been developed.

This chapter discusses the engineering specifications, preclinical testing and clinical trial outcomes for suprachoroidal prostheses. These implants are placed between the posterior blood supply of the eye (choroid) and the outer white layer of the eye (sclera), with this surgical location primarily being chosen for stability and safety. In the pilot study of a prototype suprachoroidal implant, which was held in Australia between 2012 and 2014, there were no unexpected intraocular serious adverse events in the three implanted participants. Future trials will examine safety and efficacy of implants with larger numbers of electrodes in larger cohorts of participants with profound vision loss from retinitis pigmentosa. It is also hoped that in the future suprachoroidal prostheses may be able to be used in people with some residual vision (such as in age-related macular degeneration).

The work described in this chapter, conducted by the Bionic Vision Australia (BVA) consortium, deals exclusively with suprachoroidal implantation of a stimulating array. Data are presented from the surgical implantation and psychophysical responses of a 24-channel percutaneously connected prototype device implanted in three subjects. The architecture of two future-generation fully-implantable suprachoroidal prostheses, a 44-channel device and the 99-channel ‘Phoenix’ device are also presented.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Bionic Vision Australia consortium consists of the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales, The Centre for Eye Research Australia, The Bionics Institute and NICTA. Supporting participants are the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, the National Vision Research Institute of Australia and the University of Western Sydney. The BVA consortium was funded between 2010 and 2015 by the Australian Research Council, through its Special Research Initiative in Bionic Vision Science and Technology Program.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Eye Research Australia, The University of Melbourne, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Lauren N. Ayton PhD, B.Optom, FAAO, FACO

  2. Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Gregg J. Suaning BSc, MSc, PhD & Nigel H. Lovell BE (Hons), PhD

  3. Bionics Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Matthew A. Petoe BSc, BEng (Hons), PhD & David A. X. Nayagam BSc, BE(ElecEng)(Hons), PhD

  4. Bionic Vision Australia, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Tamara-Leigh E. Brawn BA, BBSc, PostGradDip Ed, MBA

  5. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Anthony N. Burkitt PhD, BSc (Hon), BSc

Authors
  1. Lauren N. Ayton PhD, B.Optom, FAAO, FACO
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  2. Gregg J. Suaning BSc, MSc, PhD
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  3. Nigel H. Lovell BE (Hons), PhD
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  4. Matthew A. Petoe BSc, BEng (Hons), PhD
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  5. David A. X. Nayagam BSc, BE(ElecEng)(Hons), PhD
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  6. Tamara-Leigh E. Brawn BA, BBSc, PostGradDip Ed, MBA
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  7. Anthony N. Burkitt PhD, BSc (Hon), BSc
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lauren N. Ayton PhD, B.Optom, FAAO, FACO .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Munich, Germany

    Veit Peter Gabel

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Ayton, L.N. et al. (2017). Suprachoroidal Retinal Prostheses. In: Gabel, V. (eds) Artificial Vision. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41876-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41876-6_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-41874-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-41876-6

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