Development of Electrical Stimulation

Research Differentiation

Electrical stimulation is often used in biology research field as a mean of achieving therapeutic effect without using any drugs. 15 years of research have shown various benefits on regeneration of neuronal cells. It is a well-researched field but the adoption of such ES technology in medical devices are challenging. Conventional ES devices for eyes either injure the eye’s surface and suffer high variability even from day to day.

Neurotech’s innovative solution overcomes these problems by developing wireless implant technology in a milli-meter scale. Any update or feedback to the doctor can be programmed in a wireless fashion. Our device reduces harm to the eye and increases treatment effectiveness.

Year	Major Development milestones of electrical stimulation
1755	LeRoy reports visual sensations generated by applying an electrical current to the eye surface of a blind patient.
1873	Dor proclaims that electrical stimulation (ES) is effective in the treatment of various eye diseases, based on anecdotal evidence from patients.
2002	Morimoto shows that directly applying ES to a stump of a severed optic nerve in rats improved the survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs).
2004	Chow carries out study of inactive retinal microchip that only generated subthreshold currents from light. Visual improvement in areas far from the chip were induced in patients with retinitis pigmentosa, suggesting that ES induced a general neuroprotective effect.
2005	Morimoto suggests that one of the mechanisms behind TES induced neuroprotection in rats is the secretion of IGF-1, a neurotrophic factor, from Müller cells.
2006	Fujikado applies transcorneal electrical stimulation (TES) to patients with nonarteritic anterior optic ischemic neuropathy (NAION) or traumatic optic neuropathy (TON), and notes improvement in visual acuity of most patients.
2009	Ni applies repeated TES (every 3 days) to Sprague-Dawley rats, and shows it protects against retinal degeneration better than one-time exposure. Tagami compares different protocols (0/2/3/14 times over 14 days) of TES on rats with crushed optic nerve and finds daily stimulation to be the most effective method of promoting RGC survival and optic nerve regeneration.
2010	Kurimoto shows that TES increases blood flow in eye, which might be a mechanism that protects against ischemic damage (e.g. in NAION)
2011	Schatz carries out pilot study of TES on patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), which shows enhanced visual field and improved rod cell performance.