Artificial retina could restore sight

Researchers from UT Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering and Seoul National University have developed a flexible, thin, high-density and curved sensor array, the same shape and size of the retina, using graphene and molybdenum disulphide, plus thin layers of gold, alumina and silicon nitrate. They hope it will be an improvement on silicon-based retinal implants that can produce blurred or distorted images and can result in damage to surrounding eye tissue. These retinal implants have the potential to help restore some sight in patients who suffer with diseases for which there is no current cure like macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and retinitis pigmentosa that can damage or destroy retinal tissue, causing loss of vision and blindness.
Nanshu Lu, associate professor at UT Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering, said: “This is the first demonstration that you can use few-layer graphene and molybdenum disulphide to successfully fabricate an artificial retina. Although this research is still in its infancy, it is a very exciting starting point for the use of these materials to restore vision.”