Advancing Retina Implant Concepts: Assessing the Design and Validation of Origami‐Type Epiretinal Implants by Computational Modeling

physica status solidi (a), vol. 223

Abstract

We describe the modeling of a novel, foldable epiretinal implant to enhance visual perception, addressing current implant limitations of a low number of active electrodes, low spatial resolution, limited visual field, poor visual recognition, and severe surgical complications. Generally, the classical development of a new implant with experimental validation followed by animal and human trials is tedious. We utilize a simulation framework that uses axon map models generated from human trials to predict the neural activation upon epiretinal stimulation with a new implant. We propose a novel, origami‐type design for enhanced performance and compare it to two existing designs. The simulations assess spatial resolution and area coverage of the visual percepts. A hexagonal, foldable, origami‐type design could significantly improve spatial resolution and field of view. An accuracy of 94.81% in letter recognition and a 38° field of view would be achievable with an optimal structure of this implant concept. The design's flexibility would also facilitate minimally invasive surgery with a small scleral incision through which the folded implant could be inserted and left to autonomously unfold within the eye. Our findings underscore the importance of advanced computational tools in optimizing retinal prostheses, paving the way for future vision restoration technologies.

Authors 7

1. Eashika Ghosh Aachen Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering I

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering I (IWE1) RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

2. Yuli Wu Aachen Computer Vision

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Imaging & Computer Vision (LFB) RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

3. Hocine Bahri Aachen Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering I

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering I (IWE1) RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

4. Vivek Pachauri Aachen Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering I

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering I (IWE1) RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

5. Ziyu Gao Aachen Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering I

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering I (IWE1) RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

6. Johannes Stegmaier Aachen Computer Vision

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Imaging & Computer Vision (LFB) RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

7. Sven Ingebrandt corresponding Aachen Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering I

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering I (IWE1) RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany