Artificial vision for blind patients suffering from retinal diseases has shown
promising results in the last two decades, especially after the advancement in CMOS
technology. In the modern era, two types of retinal implant techniques are very
popular, one is the epiretinal implant and the other is the subretinal implant technique.
Even though the method of data processing is different in the above-mentioned
techniques, utilization of appropriate nanomaterial for the durability of the implant has
always been a major concern. Materials such as titanium nitride (TiN), iridium oxide
(IrOx), platinum grey, and carbon nanotube (CNT) were employed in recent years in
many retinal prosthetic projects. Manufacturing of stimulating electrodes and coating
of electronic devices to avoid infiltrations are the two important applications where
nanomaterials are utilized in the retinal implant system. This chapter discusses the
important and desired physical properties of nanomaterials viz. conductivity, tensile
strength, absorption of photons, and adsorption of water molecules for the subretinal
implant technique. Since the implant is located inside the retina, the isolated and
corrosive environment is the main challenge. This study is based on the first-principles
of density functional theory (DFT). Considering the recent advancements, the materials
are comparatively analyzed, and new nanomaterial is also suggested.
Keywords: Absorption, Adsorption, Artificial vision, Conductivity, CMOS, Corrosive, Density Functional Theory, Electrode, Nanomaterial, Retinal implant, Tensile strength.
