Tiny retinal implant shows potential for restoring vision

The thickness of both the organic islands and the underlying gold is more than one-hundred times thinner than a single neuron (Credit: Thor Balkhed)

Fabricated using widely-available organic pigments found in printing inks and cosmetics, the implant contains tiny pixels similar to a digital camera, but on a nanometric scale. Each pixel is about 100 times thinner than a single cell and has a diameter smaller than a human hair.

The photoactive material - a pigment of semi-conducting nanocrystals on a sheet of ultrathin gold – simulates the action of the retina by turning light into electrical signals. In humans, these signals are then transferred along the optic nerve to the brain’s visual cortex. It’s believed that the implant could restore sight for blind people whose retina cells are no longer sensitive to light. A collaboration between scientists working in Sweden, Israel, Italy and Austria, the study is published in Advanced Materials.