Fractal Device Could Restore Eyesight in the Blind

A professor at the University of Oregon is developing metallic nanoparticle-based devices that self assemble into fractal patterns, enabling them to theoretically emulate and communicate with neurons. Richard Taylor, the physics professor who also heads the University of Oregon Material Science Institute, hopes the research will help patients who suffer from macular degeneration regain their vision.

The tiny devices, after they are implanted in the eye, would detect light reflecting against the retina and redirect it to the neurons of the optic nerve. Taylor says the approach may provide an alternative to research attempts to insert conventional photodiodes behind the eyes. The tiny devices Taylor is working to develop, because they are fractal in their geometry, are expected to interface well with the retina. “The retina is fractal, but the chips are not fractal,” Talyor explains.

—Brian Buntz