A bionic self-driven retinomorphic eye with ionogel photosynaptic retina

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Bionic eyes aim for self-driving, repairable, and conformal designs for wide-field detection and efficient signal processing.
• Existing artificial eyes lack zero-powered, retinomorphic systems with transplantable, conformal features for vision restoration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To engineer a self-driven, hemispherical retinomorphic eye with transplantable, conformal photoreceptors.
• To achieve biosimilar visual learning and enable vision restoration through retinal transplantation.

Main Methods:

• Combined neuromorphic principles with retinal and ionoelastomer engineering.
• Developed an elastomeric retina using ionogel heterojunctions as photoreceptors.
• Utilized the photothermoelectric effect for receptor operation.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a self-driven hemispherical retinomorphic eye.
• Achieved broadband light detection (365-970 nm) and a 180° field-of-view.
• Exhibited photosynaptic behavior (paired-pulse facilitation index of 153%) for visual learning.
• Confirmed transplantable and conformal features of the retinal photoreceptors.

Conclusions:

• The developed bionic eye integrates neuromorphic principles with advanced materials for self-powered, efficient visual sensing.
• The transplantable and conformal nature of the photoreceptors offers a promising avenue for vision restoration and dynamic optical imaging.