Dear colleagues,
With funds from the German Federal Ministry for Research...(BMBF), a major
Retina Implant Program is under way in Germany to develop a Retina Implant System(RIS) consisting of an adaptive Retina Encoder(RE), a wireless signal- and
energy communication, and a Retina Stimulator(RS) to be implanted adjacent to
the inner limiting membrane(ILM). RIS shall be developed and successfully tested in various mammals within 4 years.
This program, which is coordinated by R.Eckmiller/Bonn, K.Heimann/Cologne,
and B.Hosticka/Duisburg comprises 14 expert groups ranging from retina surgery
via retina biology, and neuroscience to microelectronics, microsystems,
bioengineering, optoelectronics, and neural computation.
In parallel, a Retina Implant Foundation was initiated to provide direct input
from prospective retina implant recipients and further support from sponsors.
This foundation is headed by Ms.Gusseck/Bonn(Member of ARVO).
This program, although being funded with about 10 Mill. DM for 4 years, will
only succeed, if we find enough help from the scientific community. It is our
intention to share the results with the community as quickly as possible
and to publish rather than patent in order to speed up the deveploment for the benefit of blind subjects with RP or other retinal degenerative diseases.
One of the many challenges, which may be particularly clear to the cvnet
readership is:
Stable, biocompatible attachment of the microcontact foil(RS) to the ILM
Here, I am asking you specifically for help:
a) Which laboratories are interested in testing various RS prototypes
in contact with retina tissue in vitro for parameters such as:
cell reaction to mechanical and/or electrical stimuli as well as
alternative adhesive media?
b) Which laboratories are interested in testing the conditions for long-term
implantation(6 months and up) attached to the ILM e.g.in cats, dogs, monkeys?
At this point we may be able to offer travel funds for lab visits, access to the preliminary results within our research consortium, as well as full active participation in related publications and appropriate further acknowledgement.
I do realize that it is quite a challenge to initiate collaborations over
considerable distances, but we have for the first time it seems,a real chance
to put numerous labs to work for a common goal and to bring in as much
high tech expertice as may be necessary.
Your offers for collaboration as well as for further inquiries, or comments
are highly welcome.
Sincerely yours, Rolf Eckmiller (Member of ARVO and Society for Neuroscience)
You may also want to consider the following message regarding RInet:
Invitation to join the email communication for RETINA IMPLANT RESEARCH (RInet)
Since June 1995 some 20 scientists worldwide have joined RInet.
Please, feel free to join also and to participate in the development not only
of Retina Implants but also of a new partnership among scientists from medical,
biological, and technological fields for a joint purpose.
Research and development efforts towards prosthetic devices for blind subjects
with retinal degenerative diseases but an intact central visual system
are under way in several research groups in the U.S. as well as in Germany.
Presumably numerous further efforts worldwide are in progress without detailed
knowledge of what the other groups are doing.
In order to foster communication between those groups, we provide an open email service for all of us.
In case of interest, please, send a reply with
a)your institution,
b)briefly express your special interest in retina implant research and
Sincerely yours,
Rolf Eckmiller, Dr.Eng.
Professor of Computer Science
Division of Neuroinformatics
Department of Computer Science
University of Bonn