Artificial retina is usually implanted in the nearsighted eyes of people who are legally blind because of retinal diseases. The present promising developments by different eminent scientists to give perfect vision to blinded patients are still further predicted to support the artificial retina industry growth. The development in this field has been made possible through the help of science and technology. Researchers have found new materials that are capable of improving the performance of an artificial retina. These materials are called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Another important technology is electrical stimulation, which is used for treating patients suffering from retinal degeneration and other vision problems.
TMS is an electroencephalographic technique that uses electric currents in the brain to excite the cells present in the visual cortex. These cells are the photoreceptors of the eye and these provide the brain with impulses carrying information about the external environment. The accuracy of the visual system can be improved by the stimulation of photoreceptors. Some of the visual disorders like strabismus, crossed-eye vision, lazy eye, astigmatism, presbyopia, and hyperopia are due to imperfections in the arrangement of photoreceptors in the retina of the eye.
TMS can improve these problems in a variety of ways. It can strengthen the connections between the photoreceptors of the eye and the retina. The strength of these connections can be increased by the increasing the number of neurons present in the stimulated areas. The number of spines present in the stimulated areas can be increased as well. The effectiveness of this procedure depends upon the quality of the electrical stimulation and the state of the visual disorder. The basic idea behind TMS is that it stimulates the nervous system and allows it to function normally. In recent times we have seen several uses of TMS for curing many visual disorders including blindness. TMS is an advanced form of light therapy. In the artificial vision field, it is known by a variety of names such as phototransduction, cytogenetic neurostimulation, photovoltaic interferences, and super stimulation. In recent years, electrical stimulation has started being used in the field of photonics and computer science.
Photodynamic Therapy can improve the health of your visual field by treating the problems associated with aged eyes or retinal pigment changes. Aging and the normal aging process cause the visual field to change and degrade over time. An artificial retina can help to postpone the normal visual degeneration process. The retinas of such people are known as functional retinal cells. These cells exist throughout the body. When the photoreceptors of these cells age they start getting damaged due to protein cross-linking and the accumulation of free radicals. Recent studies by various groups of scientists suggest that the application of an electrode array at the level of the retina may also cure retinal diseases in nonhuman primates. The results obtained in the animal models were found to be promising. It is however important to find out whether these findings can be translated into a human application and whether the same positive effects can be achieved using the animal models. Currently, it is only possible to test the efficacy of retinal implants in nonhuman primates; however, with the increasing number of cases of age-related macular degeneration in human patients, the possibility of achieving better results using animal models is not ruled out.
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