Fabrication and Characterization of Plateau-structured Electrodes for Retinal Prostheses with Improved Stimulation...

Area of Science:

• Bioelectronic interfaces
• Neural engineering
• Biomedical device design

Background:

• Photoreceptor degeneration causes vision loss, necessitating retinal prostheses for vision restoration.
• Conventional planar electrodes in subretinal prostheses have limited cell contact and inefficient current dispersion.
• These limitations reduce the effectiveness of neural stimulation for vision restoration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel plateau-structured electrode for subretinal prostheses.
• To enhance cell-electrode contact and improve localized current stimulation.
• To overcome the limitations of conventional planar electrodes in retinal prostheses.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of plateau-structured electrodes using cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) via thermoforming and lamination.
• Characterization of electrode electrical performance using impedance spectroscopy.
• Evaluation of electrode suitability for neural stimulation at approximately 100 Ω at 1 kHz.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated stable and reliably encapsulated plateau-structured electrodes.
• Confirmed suitable electrical performance for neural stimulation with average impedance of ~100 Ω at 1 kHz.
• Demonstrated a promising approach to enhance cell-electrode interaction and stimulation localization.

Conclusions:

• The novel plateau-structured electrode offers a significant improvement over conventional planar electrodes for subretinal prostheses.
• This advancement contributes to developing more effective bioelectronic interfaces for vision restoration.
• The fabrication and design methodologies have potential applications in other neural stimulation devices requiring precise cell-electrode interaction.