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Acute Rabbit Eye Model for Testing Subretinal Prostheses

PURPOSE: Subretinal prostheses are a novel technology for restoring useful vision in patients with retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration. We characterize the surgical implantation technique and functional time window of an acute rabbit eye model for testing of human subretinal pro...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Xiao, Ying, Wang, Yuqin, Li, Fangting, Lin, Tiezhu, Huffman, Kristyn, Landeros, Stephanie, Bosse, Brandon, Jing, Yi, Bartsch, Dirk-Uwe, Thorogood, Scott, Freeman, William R., Cheng, Lingyun
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6779096/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31602345
http://dx.doi.org/10.1167/tvst.8.5.20
Descripción
Sumario:PURPOSE: Subretinal prostheses are a novel technology for restoring useful vision in patients with retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration. We characterize the surgical implantation technique and functional time window of an acute rabbit eye model for testing of human subretinal prostheses. METHODS: Retinal prostheses were implanted subretinally in 26 rabbits using a two-step technique. Fundus imaging, fluorescein fundus angiography, and optical coherence topography (OCT) were conducted postoperatively from days 1 to 21 to monitor prosthesis positioning and retinal anatomic changes. RESULTS: Successful implantation and excellent retina apposition were achieved in 84.6% of the rabbits. OCTs showed the overlying retina at full thickness for the first 2 days after implantation. Histology confirmed intact inner layers of the overlying retina until day 3. Progressive atrophy of the overlying retina was revealed by repeated OCTs; approximately 40% of the retina thickness remained on postoperative days 5 and 6. CONCLUSIONS: The two-step implantation technique works well for the rabbit eye model with human prostheses. Rabbit retina may be used for acute electrophysiologic testing of a retinal prosthesis, but is unsuitable for chronic studies due to the merangiotic retina and its limited time window of validity. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: The improved efficacy in prosthesis surgery using this technique will circumvent the challenges in animal models that provide human-like features critical for the transition into human clinical trials.