Description du projet
Un implant rétinien non invasif
Une interface cerveau-machine (ICM) est un dispositif de communication qui acquiert des signaux cérébraux et traduit les informations neuronales en commandes. Malgré l’immense potentiel des ICM, leurs performances restent sous-optimales en raison de difficultés techniques. Financé par le Conseil européen de la recherche, le projet Outer-Ret se concentrera sur les implants rétiniens comme moyen de traiter les maladies dégénératives de la rétine. Son objectif principal est d’améliorer la neurostimulation rétinienne et de développer une approche non invasive afin de générer une vision artificielle. Les résultats apporteront des informations fondamentales sur la biologie de la rétine et feront également progresser les stratégies actuelles destinées à offrir une vision fonctionnelle aux patients atteints de maladies dégénératives de la rétine.
Objectif
Retinal implants remain one of the most demanding technologies in brain-machine interfacing. State of the art devices have yet to reach the needed performances. Main barriers are sub-optimal stimulation parameters and long development and testing procedures. While invasive approaches, have yet to achieve the resolution performances needed by million of patients blinded by retinal degenerative diseases, non-invasive approaches in the form of trans-orbital stimulation have received no attention, yet they offer potentially dramatically cheaper and easy to adapt and optimize technology. The main goal of this project is to advance the field of retina neurostimulation by developing new tools for the study and interfacing with the retina. In particular: (1) Bi-directional electrophysiological interface which can record and stimulate the intact retina (in the eye) and (2) soft multi-electrode arrays for non-invasive stimulation of the retina (soft trans-orbital electrodes) will be explored. We will use these tools to study the retina in its intact form (in animal models) and we will implement the gained know-how in humans to study non-invasive stimulation. In this project we will establish a new platform for bi-directional electrophysiological interfacing with the intact retina and we will use it to study the retina in its intact form. Such investigations have ground breaking nature as they can advance both the fundamental understanding of the retina and improve the manner by which we stimulate the retina to generate artificial vision: Specifically, we aim to record spontaneous waves activity and light sensitive ganglion cells, optimize electrical stimulation parameters in the intact retina, and ultimately to measure retina responses to trans-orbit stimulation. As the ultimate goal of the project, we aim to establish the foundation of trans-orbital stimulation as a new non-invasive paradigm for functional vision in patient suffering from retina degenerative diseases.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
ERC - Support for frontier research (ERC)Institution d’accueil
69978 Tel Aviv
Israël