A team of researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark has pioneered a groundbreaking technique that allows blind eyes to respond to light once again. By injecting nanoparticles directly into the eye, they can stimulate surviving retinal neurons, effectively bypassing the nonfunctional photoreceptors. This innovation is being hailed as a potential "injectable retinal prosthesis." In various ocular diseases, photoreceptors—the cells responsible for converting light into neural signals—gradually degenerate, although the neurons that relay these signals to the brain may remain healthy. The research team has successfully found a method to reconnect these neurons to light stimuli. They developed hollow carbon nitride nanoparticles, measuring approximately 300 nanometers in diameter, modeled after chloroplasts, the light-capturing components of plant cells. Upon injection, the nanoparticles settle on the retina close to the surviving neurons and activate them in response to blue light. The researchers conducted trials on blind mice, and one month post-injection, three out of seven mice exhibited a preference for the darker side of their enclosure, akin to the behavior of sighted mice, while the control group displayed no such behavior. Additionally, light-induced activity was observed in the visual cortex of five out of fourteen treated eyes compared to just one out of fourteen control eyes, although the sample size was too small for statistical significance. This effect was further corroborated in isolated pig retinas, where the addition of nanoparticles resulted in nearly a sixfold increase in the firing rate of retinal neurons when exposed to light. Moving forward, the researchers aim to position the nanoparticles beneath the retina and enhance their sensitivity to red and infrared light. If successful, this technology could potentially provide a more straightforward alternative to current surgical electronic retinal implants.
Informational material. 18+.
