2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Development of minimally invasive pixel-dispersive fully implantable retinal prosthesis with human-like viewing angle and information processing functions

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	21H04951
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Review Section	Medium-sized Section 90:Biomedical engineering and related fields
Research Institution	Tohoku University
Principal Investigator	TANAKA Tetsu 東北大学, 医工学研究科, 教授 (40417382)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	福島誉史東北大学, 工学研究科, 准教授 (10374969) 木野久志東北大学, 医工学研究科, 特任准教授 (10633406) 富田浩史岩手大学, 理工学部, 教授 (40302088) 清山浩司長崎総合科学大学, 工学研究科, 教授 (60412722) 菅野江里子岩手大学, 理工学部, 准教授 (70375210)
Project Period (FY)	2021-04-05 – 2024-03-31
Keywords	生体医工学 / 医用システム / 人工網膜 / 三次元集積回路
Outline of Final Research Achievements	We have successfully developed technologies to fabricate a minimally invasive pixel-dispersed, fully implantable retinal prosthesis. This includes fabricating 3D-stacked artificial retinal chips with visual information processing functions similar to humans, TXV technology to connect the pixel chips in a dense network of flexible wires, and long-term implantation evaluation of flexible substrates with metal wires. By dispersing these 3D-stacked artificial retinal pixel chips in the central fossa and its periphery, minimal invasiveness and 160° viewing angle can be achieved, enabling patients to recognize letters and objects with high precision while utilizing their cornea, lens, and eye movements. In the future, we plan to verify the wide viewing angle and intraocular implantation by flexibly distributed connection of many pixel chips ranging in size from tens to hundreds of microns.
Free Research Field	半導体工学・神経工学
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	今回開発した技術によって、使用者は自身の角膜や水晶体、眼球運動を利用しながら広視野・高解像・高機能・極低侵襲の視覚を再建でき、文字や物体を高精度で認識できる。このような人工網膜は世界に類例がなく、独自性と創造性は極めて高い。本研究は半導体工学を駆使して生体神経システムの構造と機能を探究し、生体と機械を綜合した新機能システムを創製する「半導体神経工学」を深化させる研究であり、高QoL(Quality of Life)のピクセル分散型完全埋植人工網膜を開発することは本格的前臨床試験の足がかりとなる。