David Loftus, Innovator of Nanotechnology “Vision Chip” to Speak at NASA Summit

Dr. David J. Loftus of NASA’s Ames Research Center will make two presentations at the forthcoming NASA Medical Technology Summit set for February 11-13, 2003 in Pasadena, California. Dr. Loftus, will discuss his work at NASA in developing a “Vision Chip” designed to restore vision in patients suffering from age-related macular degeneration, the number one cause of blindness in the elderly. He will also present his research on the use of carbon nanotube “Bucky” paper as a scaffold for retinal cell transplantation. Dr. Loftus will be available for one-on-one conversations to discuss future commercial development opportunities for both of these technologies.

Register today to attend NASA’s Medical Technology Summit and schedule an appointment to meet Dr. Loftus and discuss your commercial interests in his technologies. The Summit will enable you to learn about these and other new medical advances at NASA, and to understand the agency's goals and objectives for its medical technology development programs. Direct interaction with NASA innovators and program managers will allow interested parties from the corporate, university, hospital and government sectors to jump-start the process of licensing and commercialization of patented NASA technologies and to accelerate the forging of partnerships for cooperative R&D.

About the “Vision Chip” Technology

NASA’s “Vision Chip” consists of an array of electrically conductive carbon nanotube (CNT) towers grown directly on the surface of a silicon chip. Each CNT tower in the array is connected to its own electrical circuit, so that electrical signals generated by the pixels of a light detector (such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) chip, worn by the patient) can be transmitted to the CNT towers. For the intended application, thousands of CNT towers are closely spaced in an array, to match the spacing of the neural elements of the retina.

About Carbon Nanotube Bucky Paper Technology

Dr. Loftus is also the inventor of Carbon Nanotube Bucky Paper as a Scaffold for Retinal Cell Transplantation. This technology employs carbon nanotube "Bucky" paper to facilitate autologous transplantation of epithelial cells to damaged areas of the retina. Bucky paper, a porous meshwork of carbon nanotubes, serves as a scaffold to establish the proper orientation of cells in culture prior to transplantation into the eye. Because Bucky paper is highly biocompatible and permeable, it can be left in place after transplantation to serve as an artificial basement membrane to support the growth of the transplanted cells. The Bucky paper scaffold is easily handled in the operative theater and more durable than membranes currently investigated for epithelial cell transplantation.

Both of these technologies are being co-developed by NASA Ames Research Center and the laboratory of Harvey Fishman, M.D., in the Department of Ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine. For further technical details, see http://ettc.usc.edu/ames/nano.

David J. Loftus, M.D., Ph.D., is a member of the Integrated Product Team on Devices and Nanotechnology at NASA Ames. Dr. Loftus joined the Gravitational Research Branch at Ames in March 2000 and also holds a clinical faculty appointment at Stanford University School of Medicine.