Medical device development

Deep-tech medical-device company that restores vision with a retinal prosthesis

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Develop an implantable chip that stimulates the retina of patients who have gone blind because of loss of their rods and cones. The patient wears glasses containing a camera and an infrared laser projector; the implant's solar-cell grid converts projected light into electrical fields that stimulate the retina while bypassing the dead rods and cones.

Problem: Restores a visual signal for people whose retinal rods and cones are no longer functioning.

For: Patients who have gone blind because of loss of the rods and cones in the eye.

Steps

1. Choose a medical problem that is likely to be technically achievable in the near future, has a large potential patient impact, and can support a scalable medical-device company.
2. Define the possible biological and engineering approaches by choosing whether to stimulate bipolar cells or the optic nerve, and whether to use electrical or optical stimulation.
3. Explore all four combinations of target cell and stimulation method rather than committing immediately to one approach.

Examples

• Science's retinal prosthesis: one patient finished a 300-page novel using the device; the device had completed major clinical trials, had been used in three clinical trials, and was an approved medical device in Europe while clinical trials were running in six countries.
• An earlier retinal prosthesis used a titanium box attached to the eyeball with a battery and PCB; the speaker said it did not work and was not good enough because the design required a large external implant component.