
==== Front
bioRxiv
BIORXIV
bioRxiv
2692-8205
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

10.1101/2024.09.03.611068
preprint
1
Article
A flexible high-precision photoacoustic retinal prosthesis
Leong Audrey http://orcid.org/0009-0009-8340-5524

Li Yueming
Ruikes Thijs R. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9886-0011

Voillot Julien
Yuan Yuhao
Chen Guo http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0239-0068

Facon Arnaud
Chhuon Chakrya-Anna
Joffrois Corentin
Tessier Gilles http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3558-925X

Cornebois Marion
Dégardin Julie
Louise Jean-Damien
Cheng Ji-Xin http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5607-6683

Yang Chen http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9454-847X

Moulet Hélène
Picaud Serge http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0548-5145

05 9 2024
2024.09.03.611068https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
http://biorxiv.org/lookup/doi/10.1101/2024.09.03.611068
nihpp-2024.09.03.611068.pdf
Abstract

Retinal degenerative diseases of photoreceptors are a leading cause of blindness with no effective treatment. Retinal prostheses seek to restore sight by stimulating remaining retinal cells. We here present a photoacoustic retinal stimulation technology. We designed a polydimethylsiloxane and carbon-based flexible film that converts near-infrared laser pulses into a localized acoustic field, aiming at high-precision acoustic activation of mechanosensitive retinal cells. This photoacoustic stimulation of wild-type and degenerated ex vivo retinae resulted in robust and localized retinal ganglion cell activation with sub-100-µm resolution in both wild-type and degenerated ex vivo retinae. Our millimeter-size photoacoustic film generated neural activation in vivo along the visual pathway to the superior colliculus, as measured by functional ultrasound imaging when the film was implanted in the rat subretinal space and stimulated by pulsed laser. Biosafety of the film was indicated by absence of short-term adverse effect under optical coherence tomography retinal imaging, while local thermal increase was measured below 1 °C. These findings demonstrate the potential of our photoacoustic stimulation for visual restoration in blind patients with a high spatial precision and a large field of view.
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