Introduction
Since 1996 the research consortium “Subretinale Microphotodiodes” has been developing a so-called subretinal implant that is designed to give patients who became blind as a result of degenerative retinal diseases a new ability to see.
Partner of the consortium were:
University Eye Hospital Tübingen, Dept. for Pathophysiology of Vision and Neuro-ophthalmology (Director Prof. Dr. med. E. Zrenner)
NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of Tübingen (Director Prof. Dr. H.f Hämmerle)
Institut für Mikroelektronik Stuttgart (Direktor: Prof. Dr. Joachim N. Burghartz)
University Eye Hospital Regensburg (Director: PD Dr. med. H. Sachs)
Institut für Physikalische Elektronik der Universität Stuttgart (Direktor Prof. Dr. rer. nat. J. H. Werner)
Thanks to the combined efforts of the research consortium, prototypes of the implants were manufactured and basic problems were solved.