Retinogenesis in a Dish: Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization of Retinal Organoids From 2011 to 2022

Retinal organoid (RO) is the three-dimensional (3D) retinal culture derived from pluripotent or embryonic stem cells which recapitulates organ functions, which was a revolutionary milestone in stem cell technology. The purpose of this study is to explore the hotspots and future directions on ROs, as well as to better understand the fields of greatest research opportunities. Eligible publications related to RO from 2011 to 2022 were acquired from the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database. Bibliometric analysis was performed by using software including VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and ArcGIS. A total of 520 articles were included, and the number of annual publications showed a rapid increase with an average rate of 40.86%. The United States published the most articles (241/520, 46.35%) with highest total citation frequencies (5,344). University College London (UK) contributed the largest publication output (40/520, 7.69%) and received highest total citation frequencies. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science was the most productive journal with 129 articles. Majlinda Lako contributed the most research with 32 articles, while Olivier Goureau has the strongest collaboration work. Research could be subdivided into four keyword clusters: culture and differentiation, morphogenesis and modeling, gene therapy, and transplantation and visual restoration, and evolution of keywords was identified. Last decade has witnessed the huge progress in the field of RO, which is a young and promising research area with extensive and in-depth studies. More attention should be paid to RO-related models and therapies based on specific retinal diseases, especially inherited retinopathies.

Automated summary

The purpose of this study is to explore the hotspots and future directions of retinal organoids (ROs), as well as to better understand the fields of greatest research opportunities. Through bibliometric analysis, it was found that the number of RO-related publications has rapidly increased, with the United States being the most prominent research country. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science is the most productive journal in this field. Majlinda Lako has contributed the most research articles, while Olivier Goureau has the strongest collaborative work. The research can be divided into four keyword clusters: culture and differentiation, morphogenesis and modeling, gene therapy, and transplantation and visual restoration. The past decade has witnessed significant progress in the field of ROs, which is a young and promising research area. More attention should be paid to RO-related models and therapies for specific retinal diseases, especially inherited retinopathies.