Krishnan A, Deepak CS, Narayan KS. Investigations on artificially extending the spectral range of natural vision.
APL Bioeng 2023;
7:046105. [PMID:
37886014 PMCID:
PMC10599790 DOI:
10.1063/5.0156463]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Organic semiconductors are being explored as retinal prosthetics with the prime attributes of bio-compatibility and conformability for seamless integration with the retina. These polymer-based artificial photoreceptor films are self-powered with light-induced signal strength sufficient to elicit neuronal firing events. The molecular aspect of these semiconductors provides wide spectral tunability. Here, we present results from a bulk heterostructure semiconductor blend with a wide spectral response range. This combination elicits clear spiking activity from a developing blind-chick embryonic retina in the subretinal configuration in response to white light. The response is largely triggered by the blue-green spectral regime rather than the red-NIR regime for the present polymer semiconductor layer attributes.
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