Pop Quiz 3 Question 4

Q4 part i: Angus II Retinal Prosthesis System

• The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System ("Argus II") is the world's first
approved device intended to restore some functional vision for
people suffering from blindness.
• It is intended to provide electrical stimulation of the retina to induce
visual perception in blind individuals.
• It is for patients suffering from Retinitis Pigmentosa; A disease which
damages the retina. It is a genetic disease which has loss of ability to
see at night as an early symptom
• The implant is an epiretinal prosthesis surgically implanted in and on
the eye that includes an antenna, an electronics case, and an
electrode array.

• The external equipment includes glasses, a video processing unit

(VPU) and a cable.
• The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System ("Argus II") is designed to
bypass the damaged photoreceptors altogether. A miniature video
camera housed in the patient's glasses captures a scene.
• The video is sent to a small patient-worn computer (i.e., the video
processing unit – VPU) where it is processed and transformed into
instructions that are sent back to the glasses via a cable.
• The instructions are then sent wirelessly to the implant
• The electrode array in the implant then transmits pulses of electricity
that bypass the abnormal receptors while stimulating the remaining
normal receptors which transmit the info to the brain via optic nerve.
• The Argus II System provides a form of vision that differs from the normal
vision.
• The implant is designed to give you a visual field of about 3.5 inches by 6.5
inches (9 by 16.5 centimeters) at arm's length, or slightly larger than a
standard 3 x 5-inch index card. However, the actual size of light you see
when the system turns on all the electrodes together may be larger or
smaller.
• A surgical procedure is required to implant Argus 2.
• http://www.2-sight.com/
Q4 part ii: Photovoltaic retinal prosthesis
• In this photovoltaic system, data stream from a video camera is
processed by a pocket PC, and the resulting images are displayed on a
head-mounted microdisplay, similar to video goggles.
• Images are then projected onto retina using pulsed (1-10 ms) near-
infrared (~880 nm) light.
• These light pulses are photovoltaically converted into bi-phasic
pulses of electric current flowing between the active and return
electrode in each pixel, which stimulate the nearby inner retinal
neurons, and thereby introduce visual information into the retinal
neural network.
• This device — a new type of retinal prosthesis — involves a specially
designed pair of goggles, which are equipped with a miniature
camera and a pocket PC that is designed to process the visual data
stream.
• The resulting images would be displayed on a liquid crystal micro
display embedded in the goggles, similar to what’s used in video
goggles for gaming.
• Unlike the regular video goggles, though, the images would be
beamed from the LCD using laser pulses of near-infrared light to a
photovoltaic silicon chip — one-third as thin as a strand of hair —
implanted beneath the retina.
• Electric currents from the photodiodes on the chip would then trigger
signals in the retina, which then flow to the brain, enabling a patient
to regain vision.
• Since each photovoltaic pixel operates independently, they do not
need to be physically connected to each other.
• Thus, small (1-2 mm) modules can be separately placed into the sub
retinal space to tile a large visual field, greatly simplifying surgery.
• “It works like the solar panels on your roof, converting light into
electric current,” said Daniel Palanker, PhD
• Development of a high resolution retinal prosthesis involves multiple
engineering and biological challenges, such as delivery of information
to thousands of pixels at video rate.
• Other challenges include placement of the tiny electrodes in close
proximity to the target neurons and avoidance of fibrotic
encapsulation of the implant.
• https://web.stanford.edu/~palanker/lab/retinalpros.html
Q4 part iii: Bionic Eye by Professor Wyatt of MIT
• This prosthetic design uses a camera embedded in a pair of glasses
worn by the user to “see.” The camera then transmits visual
information to a chip embedded in the retina, with the goal of
restoring enough sight that a user might be able to find a door in a
room, or walk down the street without the aid of a cane.
• The implant electrically stimulates the appropriate ganglion cells via
an array of microelectrodes.
• Power and data are transferred wirelessly to the implant via RF fields
from primary transmitter coils mounted in a pair of glasses. The
secondary receiver coils are sutured around the iris.
• This design features a more robust communication link (using FSK
instead of ASK) and provides the back telemetry capability required to
monitor the health of the device and characteristics of the tissue
surrounding the electrode array.
• In the first generation design, the device avoids a cable connection
between the eye and external hardware.
• The electrode array is placed in the sub retinal space beneath the
retina.
• In the second generation of the implant All electronic parts are
hermetically sealed in a titanium case with 19 feedthrough pins
connected to an external flex circuit.
• The power and data coils are sutured to the eye around the iris
(under the conjunctiva).
• Two initial surgeries with second generation device resulted in
exposure problems of the device.
• Within the first few weeks following the surgery, the conjunctiva
either failed to heal, or eroded away where it was sutured over the
device.
• As a consequence most of the surgical efforts focused on modifying
the design and refining our surgical techniques for implanting the
device.
• The coil was made flatter and peritomy was moved to be more
posterior.
• Following this, there were no more complications or device exposure
following the surgery.
• http://www.rle.mit.edu/media/pr151/19.pdf