A Sharper Future for Retinal Implants

Researchers grow neurons on a photosensitive polymer hybrid.
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A retinal implant restores vision by sending a signal from a video camera attached to a pair of glasses to electrodes implanted on the back of a person's retina. But the silicon or platinum components typically used to for the electrodes tend to produce images of limited quality, and can leave the retina scarred.
Organic semiconducting polymers are softer and more flexible than silicon, and they have useful mechanical and electrical properties, making them ideal for biomedical applications. In fact, they are already used in some medical devices such as glucose sensors and the electrodes that record neural activity in the brain. Researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology have now shown how organic polymer could be used to make better electrodes for retinal implants.
One of the first possible applications for a polymer-neuron interface could be in optogenics, says Guglielmo Lanzani, a professor at IIT who led the research, which is published in the January 18 issue of Nature Communications. "Our short-term goal was to establish communication between an [organic] semiconductor and a neuron," says Lanzani.