Scientists May Have Discovered a Treatment for Blindness

Millions of people suffer from retinal disorders, such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.
A new study suggests that injecting gold nanoparticles into the retina and stimulating those particles with lasers could restore partial vision for these patients.
The gold nanoparticles, excited by lasers, produce heat that stimulates bipolar and ganglion cells, which allows for the bypassing of the defective photoreceptors.

The term “goldeneye” once only described spy thrillers and waterfowl. But soon, it could mean groundbreaking therapy for people with failing vision.

Scientists at Brown University injected gold nanoparticles into the retinas of laboratory mice and successfully restored vision in those with retinal disorders like macular degeneration. The researchers see this breakthrough as the basis for a possible prosthesis for those with retinal disorders, though it would require wearing a small laser device embedded in a pair of sunglasses or goggles. The results of the study were published in the journal ACS Nano.

At first glance, the method may seem counterintuitive—how does injecting a miniscule amount of a soft metal repair damaged photoreceptors in patients with macular degeneration? Well, instead of letting the eyes rely on rods and cones for vision, this method uses gold nanoparticles and laser light to stimulate bipolar and ganglion cells that are “further up on the visual chain,” according to the researchers.

These cells typically interpret the signals made by the photoreceptors and send them to the brain. This gold-tinted technique bypasses those photoreceptors by focusing infrared light directly on the nanoparticles, which in turn generate heat that activates the bipolar and ganglion cells. This is particularly valuable for the millions of patients with macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa—those diseases leave these “further up” cells unscathed, so this stimulation technique could improve sight overall.

“This is a new type of retinal prosthesis that has the potential to restore vision lost to retinal degeneration without requiring any kind of complicated surgery or genetic modification,” Jiarui Nie, lead author on the study, said in a press statement. “We believe this technique could potentially transform treatment paradigms for retinal degenerative conditions.”

Nie and her team tested this process on mice and, by using probes to analyze increased activity of the visual cortices, confirmed that there was at least partial restoration of vision. Additionally, the team confirmed that the nanoparticles and laser stimulation caused no adverse side effects by searching for markers of inflammation or toxicity.

To transfer this tech to humans, the researchers imagine using a pair of glasses or goggles capable of capturing data from the surrounding environment and driving the infrared laser pattern. Once these laser pulses stimulated the nanoparticles in the eyes, those laser patterns would be interpreted in the brain.

Currently, the Food and Drug Administration has given the go ahead on a similar intervention that relies on electrodes surgically implanted in the eye. However, Nie said that this technique would be much less invasive and could even provide increased resolution, as the nanoparticle solution covers the entire retina.

Throughout human history, gold has been on of Earth’s most precious metals. But for those struggling with retinal disorders, it could very well be priceless.

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