Non-invasive electrical stimulation as a means for preserving vision

Blindness affects about 40 million people worldwide, and treatment for vision loss, especially those caused by disease in the posterior part of the eye, the retina, remains as an unmet medical need. The leading causes of irreversible blindness in the developed world are usually diseases that affect the optic nerve (e.g. glaucoma) and retina (e.g. age-related macular degeneration). There is increasing evidence supporting the idea that non-invasive electrostimulation of the eye may be useful for preserving and/or restoring vision in retinal and optic nerve diseases. The potential impact of the current project, in which we aim to develop a non-invasive electrostimulation method for the treatment of blinding condition, is thus considerable. How ES improves vision in patients with retinal diseases remains poorly understood. Our main goal is to optimize ES settings for therapeutic purposes and establish the underlying mechanisms through which it works to improve vision. Scientists from Harvard Medical School (Dong Feng Chen lab) and Oslo University Hospital/University of Oslo (Tor Paaske Utheim lab) are collaborating on this ambitious, innovative project. Our recent data suggest that electrostimulation significantly promotes proliferation of residential retinal progenitor-like cells, Muller cells, and enhances neural plasticity by stimulating neurite sprouting from bipolar cells and other retinal neurons. Several approaches seem to improve the photoreceptor survival rate. The underlying mechanism are believed to be multifactorial, as electrostimulation upregulates growth factors and genes related to calcium canals, while downregulating interleukins. We have presented these findings in the Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) in 2019. ARVO is the largest eye conference in the world. In addition, three papers on electrostimulation have been published, whereof two in highly ranked journals. Inven2 has been informed about data of potential commercial value.

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Blindness affects 39 million people worldwide, and treatment for vision loss, especially those caused by retinal neuron damage, remains as an unmet medical need. The leading causes of irreversible blindness in the developed world are usually diseases that affect the optic nerve (e.g. glaucoma) and retina (e.g. age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa). There is increasing evidence supporting the idea that non-invasive electrostimulation (ES) of the eye may be useful for preserving and/or restoring vision in retinal and optic nerve diseases. The potential impact of the current project, in which we aim to develop a non-invasive transpalpebral ES method for the treatment of blinding condition, is thus considerable. In 2004, Chow et al. first demonstrated the therapeutic potential of ES of the retina by reporting improved vision in patients with retinitis pigmentosa who received subretinal implants of an electrical device (e.g. microchip prosthesis) peripheral to the macula. The authors suggested a generalized neurotrophic effect of ES, an observation that sparked an enormous research interest in ES for treating blindness. However, to date, how ES improves vision in patients with retinal degeneration remains poorly understood. In this application, we have presented unpublished results from multiple in vitro and animal pilot experiments that form the foundation for the present proposal. Our main goal is to optimize ES settings for therapeutic purposes and establish the underlying mechanisms through which it works to improve vision.