9509758, PI-Liu: The overall goal of this investigation is to develop an implantable visual prosthesis comprised of a silicon Laser Powered Bipolar Point Contact Artificial Retina Chip (BPCARC). The project would seek to resolve two problems: 1) provide power to a chip isolated within the ocular cavity, and 2) on opposite sides of the chip, fabricate the photoreceptors and the electrodes to stimulate the retina. A laser would provide power to bias a chip equipped with photoconducting pixels, as the cornea is transparent to laser light of any visible wavelength. The photovoltaic cells would convert the laser radiation into electrical current. Using the BPCARC technology, the chip would be polished to a thickness to allow light from the opposite side from where the electrodes are fabricated to activate the photoconducting pixels. Thus the fabrication to create the PC photovoltaic cells, the photosensing or phototransistor array, and the stimulating array, could all be performed on a single side of the chip, simultaneously. Successful results would provide the fundamental knowledge needed to make an artificial, implanted, retina to enable the more than 10 million persons afflicted by retinal diseases such as retinal pigmentosa, and age-related macular degeneration, to regain the sense of sight. Demonstration of the performance of the chip using frog and rabbit eyes would be performed by the Vitro Retinal Service of the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University.
