Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ENTRAIN VISION (European Network for integrated TRAINing on Innovative Therapies for VISion RestoratiON)
Período documentado: 2020-04-01 hasta 2022-03-31
Blindness is the most feared handicap and the handicap leading to the greatest exclusion from society by reducing patient autonomy and mobility. There are still an estimated 285 million vision impaired and 39 million blind people worldwide. Due to population growth and ageing, the number of blind people or visually-impaired people could triple by 2050. In absence of available treatment, aging of the population is increasing drastically the percentage of affected patients, the severity of their visual dysfunction and ultimately the number of blinds.
The present ENTRAIN-Vision project aims at preparing Early Stage Researchers who will have a comprehensive view of new therapeutic approaches to vision restoration so that they can take part in future Research and Development, or in their future deployment throughout Europe. During the project, they will work on the development of these new innovative technologies for visual restoration at both the retinal and cortical levels.
The present ENTRAIN-Vision project aims at preparing Early Stage Researchers who will have a comprehensive view of new therapeutic approaches to vision restoration so that they can take part in future Research and Development, or in their future deployment throughout Europe. During the project, they will work on the development of these new innovative technologies for visual restoration at both the retinal and cortical levels.
Innovation is required to generate new technologies allowing greater visual acuity with either electronic prostheses or optogenetic therapy. ESRs will first assess these technologies on blind rodents by functional measurements including behavioral tests to then evaluate them in larger animals preparing thereby the translation to human patients. In this clinical translation, they will also perform computational modeling to properly design the stimulation protocols. Finally, they will define clinical endpoints for the validation of such innovative technologies. This Project will therefore train broadly skilled ESRs in innovative strategies and technologies for visual restoration.
During the first two years, the project results include advances with regards to
- Preclinical validation of prosthesis: characterization and testing of materials to develop a subretinal prosthesis with the investigation of the beneficial and adverse effects of electrical stimulation on the retinal tissue
- Preclinical validation of visual restoration by chemical and biological photoswitches: Evaluation of novel therapeutic strategies by using photoswitchable molecules targeted to the plasma membrane of retinal neurons and the analysis of the retinal responses to natural images, electrical or optogenetic stimulations. resulting in the identification and description of a subclass of retinal ganglion cells that are believed to encode for the contrast present in the visual images, electrophysiological recordings of single retinas in response to electrical or optogenetic stimuli, From natural vision to model for artificial vision: Modeling the electrical or optogenetic stimulation parameters to achieve long-term performance of the devices and perform usefull daily tasks
- Visual perception during retinal diseases in animal models and patients: Segregation of retinal cells according to their electric/dielectric properties for classification in different pathological conditions, behavioral assessment and modeling of the animal performance according to the disease states, interpretation of anatomical and functional 7T fMRI scan for a future cortical visual prosthesis recipient, Production of protocoles to assess the improvement of the quality of life in terms of daily activities.
During the first two years, the project results include advances with regards to
- Preclinical validation of prosthesis: characterization and testing of materials to develop a subretinal prosthesis with the investigation of the beneficial and adverse effects of electrical stimulation on the retinal tissue
- Preclinical validation of visual restoration by chemical and biological photoswitches: Evaluation of novel therapeutic strategies by using photoswitchable molecules targeted to the plasma membrane of retinal neurons and the analysis of the retinal responses to natural images, electrical or optogenetic stimulations. resulting in the identification and description of a subclass of retinal ganglion cells that are believed to encode for the contrast present in the visual images, electrophysiological recordings of single retinas in response to electrical or optogenetic stimuli, From natural vision to model for artificial vision: Modeling the electrical or optogenetic stimulation parameters to achieve long-term performance of the devices and perform usefull daily tasks
- Visual perception during retinal diseases in animal models and patients: Segregation of retinal cells according to their electric/dielectric properties for classification in different pathological conditions, behavioral assessment and modeling of the animal performance according to the disease states, interpretation of anatomical and functional 7T fMRI scan for a future cortical visual prosthesis recipient, Production of protocoles to assess the improvement of the quality of life in terms of daily activities.
The ENTRAIN Vision project proposes innovative solutions to increase the resolution of visual restoration. The major impact will therefore be an improved quality of life for blind patients benefiting from these strategies. The innovative solutions include hybrid chemical/electrical stimulations, innovative materials to generate highly conductive electrodes, photosensitive polymer nanoparticles, new chemical photoswitches, a more naturalistic strategy for optogenetic therapy; novel behavioral assessments to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed therapeutic strategies. These solutions will generate an economic impact by their introduction in novel therapies for the blinds or other medical fields. By training ESRs in a comprehensive manner on all the scientific disciplines referring to visual restoration, our ENTRAIN Vision project will prepare a generation of highly-skilled early-stage professionals able to know the patient needs, understand all the technologies in this field, remain creative to improve further these technologies or their appropriation by the patients. They will thus either 1) remain in the career path of research & development, 2) contribute to clinical trials or develop the rehabilitation programs, or 3) get involved in the product manufacture, distribution and marketing for all European countries.