Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
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Figure 6.10
Penetrating electrodes designed to replace the damaged photoreceptor in
the eye.
(Image kindly supplied by Nano-Retina Inc., Israel.)
i.e. a patient can differentiate between dark and light and perhaps identify the
existence of an object. Figure 6.10 shows a 5000 pixel retinal implant.
A rechargeable, battery-powered mini laser, situated on a pair of eyeglasses,
eciently powers the implant wirelessly. However, research efforts
54,55
have
shown more promise than alternative treatments such as gene therapy to
replace defective genes in photoreceptors, laser photoirradiation to destroy the
neovascularization that causes wet macular degeneration, transplantation, and
the use of anti-apoptotic agents to delay the degeneration and death of
photoreceptor cells.
6.6 Technological Advances and Novel Strategies for
Improving the Electrode-Brain Interface
Replacing bulky electrodes with nanowires threaded through blood vessels
might one day be the solution to avoid side effects related to the insertion of
electrodes. Platinum nanowires guided through blood vessels can be used to
detect the activity of individual neurons.
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The diculties related to guiding the
