Tong Wei, Meffin Hamish, Garrett David J, Ibbotson Michael R
National Vision Research Institute, Australian College of Optometry, Carlton, VIC, Australia.
Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Melbourne School of Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Front Neurosci. 2020 Mar 26;14:262. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00262. eCollection 2020.
Electrical stimulation using implantable devices with arrays of stimulating electrodes is an emerging therapy for neurological diseases. The performance of these devices depends greatly on their ability to activate populations of neurons with high spatiotemporal resolution. To study electrical stimulation of populations of neurons, retina serves as a useful model because the neural network is arranged in a planar array that is easy to access. Moreover, retinal prostheses are under development to restore vision by replacing the function of damaged light sensitive photoreceptors, which makes retinal research directly relevant for curing blindness. Here we provide a progress review on stimulation strategies developed in recent years to improve the resolution of electrical stimulation in retinal prostheses. We focus on studies performed with explanted retinas, in which electrophysiological techniques are the most advanced. We summarize achievements in improving the spatial and temporal resolution of electrical stimulation of the retina and methods to selectively stimulate neurons with different visual functions. Future directions for retinal prostheses development are also discussed, which could provide insights for other types of neuromodulatory devices in which high-resolution electrical stimulation is required.
使用带有刺激电极阵列的可植入设备进行电刺激是一种新兴的神经疾病治疗方法。这些设备的性能在很大程度上取决于它们以高时空分辨率激活神经元群体的能力。为了研究神经元群体的电刺激，视网膜是一个有用的模型，因为神经网络排列成易于接触的平面阵列。此外，正在开发视网膜假体以通过替代受损的光敏光感受器的功能来恢复视力，这使得视网膜研究与治疗失明直接相关。在这里，我们对近年来为提高视网膜假体电刺激分辨率而开发的刺激策略进行进展综述。我们专注于对离体视网膜进行的研究，其中电生理技术最为先进。我们总结了在提高视网膜电刺激的空间和时间分辨率以及选择性刺激具有不同视觉功能的神经元的方法方面取得的成就。还讨论了视网膜假体开发的未来方向，这可为需要高分辨率电刺激的其他类型神经调节设备提供见解。
