title: Restoration of useful vision up to letter recognition capabilities using subretinal microphotodiodes.
abstract: Our group has developed a subretinal microphotodiode array for restoration of vision. In a clinical pilot study the array has been implanted in 11 patients suffering from photoreceptor degenerations. Here we present promising results from some of those patients where the retinal tissue above the chip was functional and the implant fulfilled its expected function. A spatial resolution of approximately 0.3 cycles/degree could be achieved with fine stripe patterns. In one subject where the implant had been placed directly under the macular region of the retina a visual acuity of 20/1000 could be measured. Artificially restored visual acuity of this quality has not been reported previously. Finally, we present images illustrating an approximation of how the visual perceptions might have appeared to the subjects, based on a mathematical model and patient reports.
authors.affiliation: heval.benav@uni-tuebingen.de
authors.forename: Heval
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Benav
authors.forename: Karl U
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Bartz-Schmidt
authors.forename: Dorothea
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Besch
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bruckmann
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gekeler
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Greppmaier
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harscher
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kibbel
authors.forename: Akos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kusnyerik
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sachs
authors.forename: Alfred
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stett
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stingl
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wilhelm
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wilke
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wrobel
authors.forename: Eberhart
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zrenner
mesh_terms: D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D006801:Humans; D008839:Microelectrodes; D019721:Ophthalmoscopes; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D012160:Retina / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*