Optical coherence tomography-guided retinal prosthesis design: Model of degenerated retinal curvature and thickness for patient-specific devices

Abstract

Retinitis pigmentosa affects over 1.5 million people worldwide and is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness. While retinal prostheses have shown some success in restoring basic levels of vision, only generic, "one-size-fits-all" devices are currently being implanted. In this study, we used optical coherence tomography scans of the degenerated retina from 88 patients with retinitis pigmentosa to generate models of retinal thickness and curvature for the design of customized implants. We found the average retinal thickness at the fovea to be 152.9±61.3μm, increasing to a maximum retinal thickness of 250.9±57.5μm at a nasal eccentricity of 5°. These measures could be used to assist the d..