Retinal prostheses
AssigneesNanovision Biosciences, Inc., The Regents of the University of California
InventorsSamir Damle, Yu-Hsin Liu, Nicholas W. Oesch, Yu-Hwa Lo
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Abstract
Optoelectronic retinal prostheses transduce light into electrical current for neural stimulation. A novel optoelectronic pixel architecture is presented comprising a vertically integrated photo junction field-effect-transistor (Photo-JFET) and neural stimulating electrode. Experimental measurements demonstrate that optically addressed Photo-JFET pixels utilize phototransistive gain to produce a broad range of neural stimulation current and can effectively stimulate retinal neurons in vitro. The compact nature of the Photo-JFET pixel can enable high resolution retinal prostheses with a theoretical visual acuity ˜20/60 to help restore vision in patients with degenerative retinal diseases.
Claims20
A retinal prosthesis, comprising:
- a vertically integrated photosensitive junction field-effect-transistor (Photo-JFET) etched from a silicon substrate doped to form a stack of N—P—N or P—N—P layers, forming a silicon mesa pillar and having an outer wall which is coated with a dielectric layer of SiO2, which induces an inversion layer along a vertical direction on the outer wall of the silicon mesa;
- and
- a neural stimulating electrode.
A retinal prosthesis, comprising:
- a vertically integrated photosensitive junction field-effect-transistor (Photo-JFET) etched from a silicon substrate doped to form a stack of N—P—N or P—N—P layers, forming a silicon mesa pillar and having an outer wall which is coated with a dielectric layer of SiO2, which induces an inversion layer along a vertical direction on the outer wall of the silicon mesa;
- and
- a neural stimulating electrode;
- wherein a current range of 0.1-100 μA is produced when illuminated with near infrared light at an irradiance of 0.01-5 mW/mm2.
A retinal prosthesis, comprising:
- a vertically integrated photosensitive junction field-effect-transistor (Photo-JFET) having a pixel size range of 1-100 μm and etched from a silicon substrate doped to form a stack of N—P—N or P—N—P layers, forming a silicon mesa pillar and having an outer wall which is coated with a dielectric layer of SiO2, which induces an inversion layer along a vertical direction on the outer wall of the silicon mesa;
- and
- a neural stimulating electrode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.