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Spatial characteristics of evoked potentials elicited by a MEMS microelectrode array for suprachoroidal-transretinal stimulation in a rabbit

  • Basic Science
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Abstract

Background

Suprachoroidal-transretinal stimulation (STS) can potentially restore vision. This study investigated the spatial characteristics of cortical electrical evoked potentials (EEPs) elicited by STS.

Methods

A 4 × 4 thin-film platinum microelectrode stimulating array (200 μm electrode diameter and 400 μm center-to-center distance) was fabricated by a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) techniques and implanted into the suprachoroidal space of albino rabbits.

Results

The current threshold to elicit reliable EEPs by a single electrode was 41.6 ± 12.6 μA, corresponding to a 66.2 ± 20.1 μC · cm−2 charge density per phase, which was lower than the reported safety limits. Spatially differentiated cortical responses could be evoked by STS through different rows or columns of electrical stimulation; furthermore, shifts in the location of the maximum cortical activities were consistent with cortical visuotopic maps; increasing the number of simultaneously stimulating electrodes increased the response amplitudes of EEPs and expanded the spatial spread as well. In addition, long-term implantation and electrical stimulation of the MEMS electrode array in suprachoroidal space are necessary to evaluate systematically the safety and biocompatibility of this approach.

Conclusions

This study indicates that the STS approach by a MEMS-based platinum electrode array is a feasible alternative for visual restoration, and relatively high spatial discrimination may be achieved.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Nos. 2011CB707502/3/5, 2011CB013304), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61171174/60971102/61273368/91120304/61472247), SJTU SMC-Morning Star Excellent Young Scholar-B (No. 14X100010047), and the Medical-Engineering Cross Project of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (No. YG2013MS76). The authors thank Thomas FitzGibbon for comments on previous drafts of the manuscript and Yuejiao Yang for providing technical support for electrode packaging.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Care, use, and treatment of all animals received institutional ethical approval from the Ethics Committee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and were in strict accordance with the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Statement for the Use of Animals in Ophthalmic and Vision Research, and the policies in the Guide to the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals issued by the NIH.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

      Yan Yan, Xiaohong Sui, Yiliang Lu, Pengjia Cao, Zengguang Ma, Yao Chen, Xinyu Chai & Liming Li

    2. Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai First People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

      Wenjia Liu

    3. Shanghai Eye Research Institute, Shanghai, 200080, China

      Wenjia Liu

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    1. Yan Yan
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    Correspondence to Xinyu Chai or Liming Li.

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    Yan Yan and Xiaohong Sui contributed equally to this work.

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    Yan, Y., Sui, X., Liu, W. et al. Spatial characteristics of evoked potentials elicited by a MEMS microelectrode array for suprachoroidal-transretinal stimulation in a rabbit. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 253, 1515–1528 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-015-3027-x

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