A novel in vitro sensing configuration for retinal physiology analysis of a sub-retinal prosthesis.
This paper presents a novel sensing configuration for retinal physiology analysis, using two microelectrode arrays (MEAs). In order to investigate an optimized stimulation protocol for a sub-retinal prosthesis, retinal photoreceptor cells are stimulated, and the response of retinal ganglion cells is recorded in an in vitro environment. For photoreceptor cell stimulation, a polyimide-substrate MEA is developed, using the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. For ganglion cell response recording, a conventional glass-substrate MEA is utilized. This new sensing configuration is used to record the response of retinal ganglion cells with respect to three different stimulation methods (monopolar, bipolar, and dual-monopolar stimulation methods). Results show that the geometrical relation between the stimulation microelectrode locations and the response locations seems very low. The threshold charges of the bipolar stimulation and the monopolar stimulation are in the range of 10~20 nC. The threshold charge of the dual-monopolar stimulation is not obvious. These results provide useful guidelines for developing a sub-retinal prosthesis.
Inter-university Semiconductor Research Center, Automation System Research Institute, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea. kkin76@snu.ac.kr
Kyo-in
KI
Koo
Sangmin
S
Lee
Jang Hee
JH
Yee
Sang Baek
SB
Ryu
Kyung Hwan
KH
Kim
Yong Sook
YS
Goo
Dong-il Dan
DI
Cho
D000818:Animals; D008839:Microelectrodes; D011817:Rabbits; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology*; D057488:Visual Prosthesis