A Hybrid Stimulation Strategy for Vision Restoration in Retinal Prosthetics: William Kwan
Channel: The Royal Society of Victoria
Date: 2023-10-30

Vision is our most important sense to navigate the world. Unfortunately, over 100 million adults worldwide experience vision loss, and those who acquire retinal diseases such as macular degeneration can suffer from total blindness. Retinal prosthetics are being developed as a potential treatment for those who become severely visually impaired from such diseases.

Currently, no device restores vision to levels above legal blindness. A significant issue is that these devices rely on electricity to stimulate the retina. Electricity has a tendency to spread and this inadvertent, broad activation of the retina results in low-resolution visual perception.

The strategy employed by William Kwan (Monash University) and his colleagues is to incorporate optogenetics, a technique that allows the activation of retinal cells with light. A major advantage of optogenetics is that stimulation is more focal, because light doesn’t spread like electricity. William’s team considers a hybrid optogenetic-electrical approach could be a breakthrough in developing treatments to ultimately restore sight. 

However, the utility of optogenetic stimulation has been held back by its poor temporal resolution. Their proof-of-principle hybrid stimulation technique has significantly improved the utility of optogenetic stimulation and warrants further exploration within in vivo retinal degeneration models. The translational potential of the study recommends further collaboration within the biomedical engineering industry and commercialisation landscape.

In recognition of the quality and significance of his research, William Kwan is the First Prize Winner in the Biomedical and Health Sciences category for the Royal Society of Victoria's Young Scientist Research Prizes in 2023. William's presentation has been filmed and published with the support of the Inspiring Victoria program.