Multidisciplinary Approaches in the Treatment of Retinal Degenerative Diseases: A Review

Abstract

Retinal degenerative diseases (RDDs) cause irreversible blindness and affect ≈285 million individuals worldwide. The unavailability of treatment to stop the progression of RDDs or restore normal visual function necessitated development of novel therapeutic strategies. In recent years, multidisciplinary approaches have shown great potential for the treatment of RDDs, including intraocular delivery systems, retinal scaffolds for cell therapy, and visual prostheses with different stimulation strategies. This review focuses on the development prospects and shortcomings of various multidisciplinary treatment approaches for RDDs. The results of this review will hopefully inspire further innovation in the design of novel multidisciplinary approaches for RDD treatment and accelerate their commercialization.