A key issue in the realization of retinal prosthetic devices is reliable transduction of information carried by light into specific patterns of electrical activity in visual information processing networks. Soft organic materials can be used to couple artificial sensors with neuronal tissues. Here, we interface a network of primary neurons with an organic blend. We show that primary neurons can be successfully grown onto the polymer layer without affecting the optoelectronic properties of the active material or the biological functionality of neuronal network. Moreover, action potentials can be triggered in a temporally reliable and spatially selective manner with short pulses of visible light. Our results may lead to new neuronal communication and photo manipulation techniques, thus paving way to the development of artificial retinas and other neuroprosthetic interfaces based on organic photodetectors.
I probably should join advocacy groups for research to prevent blindness and develop "bionic eyes" like the one I saw on The Six Million Dollar Man in the early 1970's. A branch retinal vein occlusion makes you a little blind in that eye, kind of like having a smear of Vaseline across your field of vision. Lately I've also noticed some subtle loss of color vividness in that eye when I see things by sunlight; I don't seem to have the problem when I see things under artificial lighting indoors. I'll have to ask my ophthalmologist about that the next visit.
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