报告时间：2009年8月7日9:30
报告地点：生物电子学国家重点实验室3楼会议室
Abstract:
Retinitis Pigmentosa is a class of retinal degenerative diseases which cause
complete blindness in 1 in 3500 people across the world. There is no pharmaceutical
intervention at the present time, and stem cell and gene therapies may take decades
to achieve significant results. The common characteristic of these diseases is an
inactivation and destruction of the light sensitive rods and cones. However, the
transmission neurons, the retinal ganglion are largely intact. Thus there is
potential to return sight via stimulating these communication structures to the
brain.
Electronic neural interfaces have been improving, but there is a fundamental limit
to the charge transfer density of present materials. This limits the creation of
high resolution data transfer to the nervous system. In addition, the ON-OFF coding
structure of the human eye cannot easily be replicated with electrical stimulation.
Thus in Imperial College, we are pioneering an optogenetic approach whereby we
genetically re-engineer neurons to be light sensitive with the channelrhodopsin-2
protein. We then use custom fabricated CMOS-GaN optoelectronic arrays to stimulate
the nerve cells. This new approach allows for near perfect coding transfer and can
inhibit as well as stimulate. Achievable resolutions are orders of magnitude above
electrical approaches and genetic methods can be used to achieve targeting of
specific circuit layers. Proof of principle work has already been carried out
in-vitro and is now being carried out ex-vivo and in-vivo with the intention to move
rapidly to human trials.
报告人简介：
Patrick Degenaar was born in Amsterdam in 1973 but spent his early school years in
the UK. After a year in the Dutch army, he undertook a degree in Applied Physics
at the University of Liverpool in 1993. After achieving first class honours, he
continued on a Masters course in Surface Science in 1996. In 1997 he went on to
study a PhD in Biophysics at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and
Technology. After his PhD, he initially worked as a Software Engineer in Amsterdam
before taking up a post-doctoral positions in the Physics and Engineering
departments at Imperial College London. In 2005 he received a RCUK fellowship and
lecturership in Neurobionics. More recently he has been promoted to senior lecturer.
His position is jointly with the newly formed Institute of Biomedical Engineering
and the Department of Neuroscience.
Patrick Degenaar’s Neurobionics group specializes in retinal prosthesis for the
blind and visual aid devices for the visually impaired. It is highly
interdisciplinary, and includes physicists, biologists, ophthalmologists and
electronic engineers. It is presently well funded with grants from the UK Biological
and Engineering councils, and potentially from the EU and Australian Research
councils in the near future.