The Subretinal Implant: Can Microphotodiode Arrays Replace Degenerated Retinal Photoreceptors to Restore Vision?

Seeing is a complex of information processing, of which we are normally not aware, starting with the formation of a real, reduced and up-side-down image on the back of the eye accomplished by the eye’s cornea and lens. About 130 million photoreceptors (PR) in the outermost layer of the transparent retina transform local luminance and color patterns into chemical and electrical signals which trigger activity of the many different retinal cells: horizontal cells, bipolar cells, amacrine cells and ganglion cells (GCs). The information is processed by serial and parallel pathways by in parts still unknown mechanisms. The information of these 130 million PRs is compressed to the level of approximately 1.2 million highly specialized GC fibers. These 1.2 million fibers in the retina then

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