Credit: Freepik

Researchers in Italy are developing a liquid artificial retina – an injectable suspension of photosensitive nanoparticles to replace damaged photoreceptors in dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients.

Professor Vincenzo Petitti from UniCamillus International Medical University, Rome, said his team’s experimental suspension contains around 2,500 photosensitive polymeric nanoparticles per 1μl, which is injected into the subretina with a cannula needle. The liquid retina could help dry-AMD patients, who are unsuitable for an implantable prosthesis such as the ARGUS II, said Prof Petitti.

The suspension is yet to be studied in humans, but Prof Petitti’s team has tested the effects of transposing sampled autologous retinal periphery tissue to the macula in wet AMD patients. Nine eyes treated thus far presented with visual acuity (VA) of counting fingers or lower, with researchers reporting a 50% VA increase following treatment.