Developed the world's first artificial biological retina

Made up of a combination of hydrogel particles with a stable water structure and light-sensitive proteins, the soft retina synthesized from soft tissue is designed to mimic the inherent biological function of the original retina and signaling connection. Fruit with the remaining tissues of the inner part of the eye. This is expected to be a big step forward in ophthalmic transplantation.

Researchers have recently created the world's first artificial biological retina. This is considered a major step forward to avoid damage in retinal implant surgery in the future.

Made up of a combination of hydrogel particles with a stable water structure and light-sensitive proteins , the synthetic retina is designed to mimic the inherent biological function of the original retina and effectively connect with the Remaining tissue of the inner part of the eye.

According to biochemist Vanessa Restrepo-Schild, Oxford University: "The human eye is extremely sensitive, so foreign implants such as metal retina are easy to cause lesions that lead to inflammation and elimination. Therefore, the biological retina with soft tissue structure and water hydrogel granules will be more friendly to the eye environment. "

The retina, which is located in the back of the eye, is made up of millions of photoreceptors , which receive light particles (photons) that pass through the pupil into the eye.

When light particles reach 126 million photosensitive cells on the retina, cells convert light into electrical signals and reach the brain via the nervous system. From there, the signals will be encoded and help us feel the shape, color, and brightness of objects and this will make the world visible around us.

However, gene mutations can lead to retinal degeneration, such as diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa that make the sensory cells weaken and dissipate, meaning they cannot turn the light into confidence. The effect that our brain can understand.

From there, Restrepo-Schild's team was assembled. They developed a synthetic retina by creating a 4 x 4 pixel hydrogel drop. These water cells contain bacteriorhodopsin - a light-sensitive protein found in unicellular microorganisms called neck bacteria .

Biological retina is made up of hydrogel water particles and light-sensitive proteins.

With a structure like a network of 16 pixels, hydrogel cells act as a low resolution basic retina. At the laboratory, this biological retina shows the ability to recognize simple, monolithic, black-and-white images based on light arrays. Besides, they also have the ability to absorb electrical signals from bright particles and through the nervous system translate into images similar to the original retina.

Few decades ago, artificial retina was invented and there are also some in-depth studies on biological retina to improve the ability to receive light when photosensitive cells are damaged. However, Restrepo-Schild found that the possibility of injury due to mechanical devices and artificial materials that are difficult to control with the eye environment is quite large and they will be limited by tissue-based prototypes. natural soft with water hydrogel particles.

"I analyze the principles of hearing, tactile or light-sensing and apply it to the experiment to create a synthetic substitute. Hopefully this will be a The solution is more flexible and biodegradable in the external environment than the existing hard and wasteful materials ".

Although this retinal prototype has not yet been tested in conjunction with living tissue, researchers are still in the development phase with a biological implant .

The team is also working to increase the ability to identify more color groups - not simply stop at black and white light. After that, transplant tests will be conducted on animals. If all goes well, human clinical trials can be done next year.

The process of completing artificial retina from soft tissue is expected to take a long time. However, with more than 4,000 patients with retinal degeneration waiting for advanced and stable long-term treatments, this is probably a good signal to expect.