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Subretinal implantation and testing of polyimide film electrodes in cats

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Abstract

Background

Progress in the field of microelectronics has led to the development of visual prostheses for the treatment of blinding diseases. One concept under investigation is an electronic subretinal prosthesis to replace the function of lost photoreceptors in degenerative diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa.

Methods

In the subretinal prosthesis design concept, an array of stimulation electrodes is placed in the subretinal space. To test the feasibility of the concept and to determine basic stimulation parameters, wire-bound stimulation devices were used in acute trials for up to 12 h in three eyes in anaesthetised cats. These wire-bound stimulation elements were based on strips of polyimide film. The film strips were introduced through a sclerostomy into the vitreous cavity and via a retinotomy into the subretinal space during a modification of the standard three-port vitrectomy procedure. On entry through the retinotomy, the film was advanced mechanically to the desired position in the area centralis. Perfluorocarbon liquid (PFCL) was used to establish close contact between the electrode array and the outer retina. Stimulation was performed with computer-generated sequences of current waveforms in acute trials immediately after surgical implantation of the stimulation film. Cortical recordings in the primary visual cortex were performed with electrodes placed in locations corresponding to the retinal stimulus site.

Results

All three implantations were carried out successfully with the stimulation array implanted beneath the outer retina of the area centralis of the operated eye. The retina was attached over the stimulation array in all cases. No cortical responses were recorded in one of the stimulation sessions. The results from another session revealed clear intracortical responses to subretinal stimulation with polyimide films. Following single-site retina stimulation, the estimates of spatial cortical resolution and temporal resolution were approximately 1 mm and 20–50 ms, respectively.

Discussion

Our results indicate that focal subretinal stimulation evokes localised spatio-temporal distribution of cortical responses. These findings offer hope that coarse restoration of vision may be feasible by subretinal electrical stimulation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the excellent technical assistance of W. Gerber, M. Grosch, C. Csellner, and P. Muth, Applied Physics-NeuroPhysics Group, Department of Physics, Philipps University Marburg, Germany. We thank our colleagues in the MPDA Team for their ongoing cooperation, especially W. Nisch and H. Sailer from the Natural Science Institute (NMI) in Reutlingen, Germany for providing us with the stimulation film electrodes. Special thanks to R. Eckhorn, V.-P. Gabel, and E. Zrenner for valuable discussions and encouragement. Supported by grants from the German Federal Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Technology (BMBF) 01 KP 0006 and 01 KP 0012.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Eye Clinic, University of Regensburg, Franz Josef Strauß Allee 11, 93042, Regensburg, Germany

    Helmut G. Sachs & Ursula Brunner

  2. Applied Physics-NeuroPhysics Group, Department of Physics, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Thomas Schanze, Marcus Wilms & Andreas Rentzos

  3. Department of Neuroophthalmology, University Eye Hospital, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany

    Florian Gekeler

  4. Department of Ophthalmology, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Lutz Hesse

  5. Klinikum am Gesundbrunnen-Augenklinik, SLK-Kliniken Heilbronn GmbH, Heilbronn, Germany

    Lutz Hesse

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  1. Helmut G. Sachs
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  2. Thomas Schanze
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  4. Andreas Rentzos
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  5. Ursula Brunner
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  6. Florian Gekeler
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  7. Lutz Hesse
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Correspondence to Helmut G. Sachs.

Additional information

The first two authors, H.G. Sachs and T. Schanze, contributed equally to this paper.

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Sachs, H.G., Schanze, T., Wilms, M. et al. Subretinal implantation and testing of polyimide film electrodes in cats. Graefe's Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 243, 464–468 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-004-1049-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-004-1049-x

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