Cho Alice K, Sampath Alapakkam P, Weiland James D
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2012;2012:2985-8. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2012.6346591.
The epiretinal prosthesis aims to restore functional vision by stimulating electrically the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in patients afflicted with degenerative diseases that affect the photoreceptors, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP). As degeneration progresses, photoreceptor death is followed by pronounced remodeling and rewiring of remaining inner retinal cells. Despite the loss of rods and cones, a considerable population of RGCs remain receptive to prosthetic stimulation. To stimulate effectively a localized population of RGCs, an improved understanding of the anatomical and physiological properties of these cells is required. Additionally, possible alterations in electrical excitability, produced by the effects of retinal degeneration, needs to be assessed. This study investigates the effect of RGC soma size on the threshold for action potential generation in normal and rd mice and its implications for the rescue of visual function.
视网膜假体旨在通过电刺激患有影响光感受器的退行性疾病（如年龄相关性黄斑变性（AMD）和视网膜色素变性（RP））的患者的视网膜神经节细胞（RGC）来恢复功能性视力。随着退变的进展，光感受器死亡之后是剩余视网膜内层细胞的明显重塑和重新布线。尽管视杆细胞和视锥细胞丧失，但相当数量的RGC仍然对假体刺激有反应。为了有效刺激局部RGC群体，需要更好地了解这些细胞的解剖和生理特性。此外，还需要评估由视网膜退变效应产生的电兴奋性的可能变化。本研究调查了RGC胞体大小对正常和rd小鼠动作电位产生阈值的影响及其对视觉功能恢复的意义。
