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ResearchIn-Press PreviewNeuroscienceOphthalmology Open Access | 10.1172/jci.insight.192799

A Porcine Commotio Retinae Model for Pre-clinical evaluation of Post Traumatic Photoreceptor Degeneration

Juan Amaral,1 Irina Bunea,2 Arvydas Maminishkis,1 Maria M. Campos,3 Francesca Barone,2 Rohan Gupta,2 Mitra Farnoodian,2 Jonathan Newport,4 M. Joseph Phillips,5 Ruchi Sharma,2 David M. Gamm,5 Kapil Bharti,2 and Richard J. Blanch7

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Amaral, J. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Bunea, I. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Maminishkis, A. in: PubMed | Google Scholar |

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Campos, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Barone, F. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Gupta, R. in: PubMed | Google Scholar |

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Farnoodian, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Newport, J. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Phillips, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Sharma, R. in: PubMed | Google Scholar |

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Gamm, D. in: PubMed | Google Scholar |

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Bharti, K. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Translational Research Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

2OSCTRS, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

3Biological Imaging Core, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

4Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, United States of America

5Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medison, United States of America

6Waisman Center, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States of America

7Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Find articles by Blanch, R. in: PubMed | Google Scholar |

Published January 13, 2026 - More info

JCI Insight. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.192799.
Copyright © 2026, Amaral et al. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Published January 13, 2026 - Version history
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Abstract

Commotio retinae (CR) resulting from retinal trauma can lead to focal photoreceptor degeneration and permanent vision loss. Currently no therapies exist for CR-induced retinal degeneration, in part due to a lacking large animal model that replicates human injury pathology and allows testing of therapeutics. Severe CR is clinically characterized by subretinal fluid and focal photoreceptor outer nuclear layer thinning. To develop a porcine CR model, we developed a laser-guided projectile apparatus and optimized projectile delivery procedure using porcine cadaveric eyes embedded in a 3D-printed porcine skull. Scleral and corneal impacts, resulted in retinal damage consistent with patient injury but corneal impacts also led to cornea damage and opacification, which precluded follow up imaging. In live porcine eyes, scleral impacts of 39.5 m/s induced transient blood retinal barrier breakdown evidenced by subretinal fluid on optical coherence tomography (OCT), leakage observed on fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography, and transient photoreceptor outer segment disruption seen by OCT and multifocal electroretinography. Impacts above 39.5 m/s induced longer-lasting photoreceptor degeneration, but only transient blood retinal barrier breakdown. This porcine model, combined with clinically relevant imaging and diagnostic modalities will be valuable for testing the safety and efficacy of therapies to restore vision after focal photoreceptor degeneration.

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  • Version 1 (January 13, 2026): In-Press Preview
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