Background: To assess the impact of brachytherapy on macular microvasculature utilizing optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in treated choroidal melanoma. Methods: In this retrospective observational case series, we reviewed the recorded data of the patients with unilateral extramacular choroidal melanoma treated with ruthenium − 106 (¹⁰⁶Ru) plaque radiotherapy with a follow-up period of more than 6 months. Automatically measured OCTA retinal parameters were analysed after image processing. Results: Thirty-one eyes of 31 patients with the mean age of 51.1 years were recruited. Six eyes had no radiation maculopathy (RM). From 25 eyes with RM, nine eyes (36%) revealed a burnout macular microvasculature with imperceptible vascular details. Twenty-one non-irradiated fellow eyes from the enrolled patients were considered as the control group. Foveal and optic disc radiation dose had the highest value to predict the burnout pattern (ROC, AUC: 0.763, 0.727). Superficial and deep foveal avascular zone (FAZ) were larger in irradiated eyes in comparison to non-irradiated fellow eyes (1629 μm² vs. 428 μm², P = 0.005; 1837 μm² vs 268 μm², P = 0.021; respectively). Foveal and parafoveal vascular area density (VAD) and vascular skeleton density (VSD) in both superficial and deep capillary plexus (SCP and DCP) were decreased in all irradiated eyes in comparison with non-irradiated fellow eyes (P < 0.001). Compared with non-irradiated fellow eyes, irradiated eyes without RM had significantly lower VAD and VSD at foveal and parafoveal DCP (all P < 0.02). However, these differences at SCP were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The OCTA is a valuable tool for evaluating RM. Initial subclinical microvascular insult after ¹⁰⁶Ru brachytherapy is more likely to occur in DCP. The deep FAZ area was identified as a more critical biomarker of BCVA than superficial FAZ in these patients.

In this study, an injectable artificial photoreceptor (APR) is engineered to transduce visible light into cell‐level electrical stimulation via localized surface plasmon resonance to restore vision in patients with vision loss. APRs comprise gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with poly (vinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF‐HFP) dielectric coating and are integrated onto a high‐permittivity barium titanate core. This yields a stable nanocomposite with maximum absorbance in the green band at around 525 nm. APRs were evaluated in vitro using human pluripotent stem cell‐derived retinal ganglion cells (hRGCs) exposed to light stimulation. In vivo efficacy was assessed following intravitreal injection of APRs in the rd1 mouse model, and functional outcomes were evaluated using visual evoked potentials (VEPs) and pupillary light reflex (PLR) testing. In vitro, optical stimulation of hRGCs in the presence of APRs increased multielectrode‐array (MEA) firing. This shifted cellular metabolism toward mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation without inducing apoptosis. In rd1 mice, intravitreal APR delivery produced robust restoration of light‐evoked retinal activity in explant MEAs and improved functional readouts in vivo, validated by enhanced PLR and increased N1 amplitudes on flash VEPs. This study demonstrates that a fully injectable nanophotonic prosthesis can restore light responsiveness in a retinal degeneration model without the need for implanted electronics or genetic modification.