The type of retinal implant is more than 100 times thinner than the neuron that has the potential to eliminate blindness

Made of organic gold and ink, they are expected to restore vision back to normal.

A completely new type of retinal implant, made from organic pigments and gold, can one day restore normal vision. That is the result of a recently published study.

This is a device with a thin sheet structure, with the main material being an organic crystalline pigment, which is quite popular in printing, aesthetics, as well as tattoo services. In this type of device, these pigments are arranged in a certain sequence, and thus, the crystal structure can absorb light and convert it into electrical signals - similar to the way the receptors The pigment body lies in the retina creating what we still see.

This device promises to restore vision to millions of people with conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa, or age-related degenerative diseases. This is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.

In these diseases, pigment receptor cells are damaged and lose function, but other neurons involved in the electrical signal transport process still function normally. Therefore, in theory, we can completely ignore these pigment receptors and stimulate directly into the posterior neuron string.

This is not a completely new idea. There have been other retinal implants that have been tested on humans, or have appeared on the market. They use external cameras, which are responsible for transmitting electrical signals from the electrodes placed on the retina, while using energy from the electrical source implanted behind the ear. What makes the difference in this new device lies in the wireless feature, while using organic ingredients, rather than materials from silicon, so it is less likely to be eliminated by the body.

In addition, the device is extremely slim - this is a must-have for any device that implants very soft and vulnerable eyes and retina tissue. At only 80 nanometers in size, it is 100 times thinner than the size of a neuron, and 500 times thinner than any retina silicon implant device ever appeared.

The team also encountered many difficulties in designing this device. With ultra-thin dimensions, it is difficult for this device to produce energy to either metabolize neurons. At the same time, finding a way to combine pigments to optimize light absorption is also a difficult problem. And they solved the problem by placing two different layers of pigment on top of pure gold. When this mixture is exposed to light, the electrons will accumulate gradually at the top, then the positive charge will go from top to bottom and charge the gold layer at the bottom. When placed in the physiological salt environment - the environment is similar to the retina, this device has produced an electric field and these electrical signals have been received by the surrounding neurons.

This device has been successfully tested on chicken embryos. The next step of the test will be conducted on rabbits. Rabbits only have light receptors with blue and green colors, so they cannot see red. If successful in transplanting this type of device into the rabbit retina, the researchers will see the rabbit's response on functional magnetic resonance imaging results. In other words, they will see red - the color before which any rabbit has ever been seen.