A university and a hospital will jointly conduct human clinical trials of artificial retinal implants, the first study of its kind in Asia, a university official said yesterday.
National Chiao Tung University will collaborate with China Medical University Hospital in Taichung City to carry out the trials, university president Wu Chung-yu (吳重雨) said yesterday.
Such procedures are currently being developed by private companies and research institutions in other parts of the world and are meant to partially restore vision to people who have lost their sight because of degenerative eye conditions.
Patients to be involved in the clinical trials will be visually impaired people whose conditions are not congenital, including those who suffer from degenerative eye conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa, retinal detachment or those suffering from age-related macular degeneration, Wu said.
The procedure involves surgically implanting a special microchip behind the retina, which is at the back of the eyeball, to restore partial sight to the visually impaired, Wu said.
The chip, studded with a varying number of electrodes, is part of a retinal prostheses that links with the brain and nervous system and may help restore some vision by electrically stimulating nerve cells that normally carry visual input from the retina to the brain, Wu said.
The surgery requires about one to two hours, Wu said.
Jeng Long-bin (鄭隆賓), an executive at the hospital, said most cases of artificial retinal implants in Europe and the US involve patients with retinitis pigmentosa and those suffering from age-related macular degeneration.
In Taiwan, many cases of retinal detachment are associated with high myopia, age-related diabetes and prematurity. The two institutions hope to help sufferers of such conditions regain their eyesight through artificial retinal implants, Jeng said.
The Department of Health has approved the artificial retina project and a research team for retinal implant clinical trials will be assembled to evaluate and conduct the trials.
The clinical trials research team will soon head for the US for training and will establish a databank of prospective patients that would be enrolled in the trials, Jeng said.
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