Retinal prostheses hold the potential to revert blindness in profoundly blind people. However, devices should provide visual perception at high resolution and, most importantly, over a wide visual angle to be valuable in everyday activities.

To solve this technological challenge, we have developed and validated a photovoltaic wide-field retinal implant (POLYRETINA), providing high-resolution stimulation over a wide area, thus meeting the criteria to make a difference for blind patients.

Reverting blindness is a societal challenge. Blindness is one of the fearest conditions among healthy people and poses high medical and economic burdens on individuals, relatives, and society.

Neurotechnology holds the potential of improving people’s life by providing a new form of vision. Our ultimate goal is to use neurotechnology to enable blind people to regain independence and social integration for a fulfilling life.

Our research led to the development of a wide-field and photovoltaic retinal prostheses (POLYRETINA). Our approach combines materials science, microengineering, neuroscience and medicine to induce artificial visual perception with high resolution over a large visual area. Our scientific activity highlighted the need for a wide visual field to allow users to interact with the ambient and safely perform everyday activities independently.

Ultimately, our neurotechnological solution aims at breaking the wall separating blind people from their fulfilling life.

Further Activities to have a look at