CCET-26

SEMINAR 2 SYNOPSIS

ELECTRONIC VISUAL PROSTHESIS (SYNOPSIS)

Submitted in partial fulfilment of requirement for award of degree of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
In Electronics and Communication Engineering

SUBMITTED TO: ELECTRONICS DEPARTMENT, C.C.E.T-26

SUBMITTED BY:PRATYAKSH ARORA ECE (7th Sem.) CO10538

PRATYAKSH ARORA

E.C.E 7 SEM.

TH

CO10538

CCET-26

SEMINAR 2 SYNOPSIS

INTRODUCTION
A Visual prosthetic Eye is a device, which acts as an artificial eye. It is a broad term for the entire electronics system consisting of the image sensors, processors, radio transmitters & receivers, and the retinal chip. Based on the institute developed these devices are developed but with minor to major differences, of these the devices with functional capability and those which are clinically tested and results proved are discussed in the seminar. The designers objective is to go for a system that is technically perfect with no loop holes and that is harmless to the human body which receives the system and that is commercially viable both in terms of ease of manufacture, cost and the process of implanting. Blindness means loss of vision. Rods and Cones, millions of them are in the back of every healthy human eye. They are biological solar cells in the retina that convert light to electrical impulses -- impulses that travel along the optic nerve to the brain where images are formed. Without them, eyes lose the capacity to see, and are declared blind. Degenerative retinal diseases result in death of photoreceptors--rod-shaped cells at the retina's periphery responsible for night vision and cone-shaped cells at its center responsible for color vision. Worldwide, 1.5 million people suffer from retinitis pigmentosa (RP), the leading cause of inherited blindness. In the Western world, agerelated macular degeneration (AMD) is the major cause of vision loss in people over age 65, and the issue is becoming more critical as the population ages. Each year, 700,000 people are diagnosed with AMD, with 10 percent becoming legally blind, defined by 20/400 vision. Many AMD patients retain some degree of peripheral vision. Currently, there is no effective treatment for most patients with AMD and RP, the researchers say . However, if one could bypass the photoreceptors and directly stimulate the inner retina with visual signals, one might be able to restore some degree of sight.

NEED FOR ELECTRONIC VISUAL PROSTHESIS

It has been shown that electric stimulation of retinal neurons can produce perception of light in patients suffering from retinal degeneration. Using this property the eye can make use of the functional cells to retain the vision with the help of electronic devices that assist these cells in performing the task of vision, we can make these lakhs of people get back their vision at least partially. A design of an optoelectronic retinal prosthesis system that can stimulate the retina with resolution corresponding to a visual acuity of 20/80sharp enough to orient yourself toward objects, recognize faces, read large fonts, watch TV and, perhaps most important, lead an independent life. The researchers hope their device may someday bring artificial vision to those blind due to retinal degeneration.

VISUAL PROSTHETIC EYE DEFINED:

An electronic visual prosthetic eye is a form of neural prostheses intended to restore lost vision or amplify existing vision. It usually takes the form of an externally-worn camera that

PRATYAKSH ARORA

E.C.E 7 SEM.

TH

CO10538

CCET-26

SEMINAR 2 SYNOPSIS

is attached to a stimulator on the retina or optic nerve in order to augment or replace the real eye. Bionic Eye, Bio Electronic eye, is a generally device that can provide sight the detection of light. It replaces the functionality of a part or whole of eye. It is used to replace functionality as well as add functionality. It is a complex combination of multiple devices which work together for restoration of the vision of the subject.

Biological considerations
The ability to give sight to a blind person via a bionic eye depends on the circumstances surrounding the loss of sight. Candidates for visual prosthetic implants find the procedure most successful if the optic nerve was developed prior to the onset of blindness. Persons born with blindness may lack a fully developed optical nerve, which typically develops prior to birth. According to the Society for the Prevention of Blindness, between 10,000 and 12,000 people per year lose an eye. Though 50% or more of these eye losses are caused by an accident (in one survey more males lost their eyes to accidents compared to females), there are a number of inherited conditions that can cause eye loss or require a visual prosthetic. Microphthalmia is a birth defect where for some unknown reason the eye does not develop to its normal size. These eyes are totally blind, or at best might have some light perception.

Technological considerations
Visual prosthetics are being developed as a potentially valuable aide for individuals with visual degradation. The visual prosthetic in humans remains experimental, while visual prosthetics have been implemented in other animals. Visual prosthetics providing a level of visual acuity comparable to that of a camera have been successfully implanted on humans since 2011. Bionic visual implants have demonstrated the ability to partially recover lost sight.

PRATYAKSH ARORA

E.C.E 7 SEM.

TH

CO10538

CCET-26

SEMINAR 2 SYNOPSIS

The MARC System

The intermediary device is the MARC system pictured in Figures 2A and 2B. The schematic of the components of the MARC to be implanted consists of a secondary receiving coil mounted in close proximity to the cornea, a power and signal transceiver and processing chip, a stimulation-current driver, and a proposed electrode array fabricated on a material such as silicone rubber, thin silicon, or polyimide with ribbon cables connecting the devices. The biocompatibility of polyimide [10,11] is being studied, and its thin, lightweight consistency suggests its possible use as a non-intrusive material for an electrode array. Titanium tacks or cyanoacrylate glue may be used to hold the electrode array in place.

PRATYAKSH ARORA

E.C.E 7 SEM.

TH

CO10538

CCET-26

SEMINAR 2 SYNOPSIS

Figure 3: The MARC System

Overall System Functionality

The MARC system operates in the following manner. An external camera will acquire an image, whereupon it will be encoded into data stream which will be transmitted via RF telemetry to an intraocular transceiver. A data signal will be transmitted by modulating the amplitude of a higher frequency carrier signal. The signal will be rectified and filtered, and the MARC will be capable of extracting power, data, and a clock signal. The subsequently derived image will then be stimulated upon the patients retina. The MARC system would consist of two parts which separately reside exterior and interior to the eyeball. Each part is equipped with both a transmitter and a receiver. The primary coil can be driven with a 0.5-10 MHz carrier signal, accompanied by a 10 kHz amplitude modulated (AM/ASK) signal which provides data for setting the configuration of the stimulating electrodes. A DC power supply is obtained by the rectification of the incoming RF signal. The receiver on the secondary side extracts four bits of data for each pixel from the incoming RF signal and provides filtering, demodulation, and amplification. The extracted data is interpreted by the electrode signal driver which finally generates appropriate currents for the stimulating electrodes in terms of magnitude, pulse width, and frequency.

Diseases of the Eye That Can Potentially Be Cured

There are some diseases in which the sensors in the eye, the rods and cones, have deteriorated but all the wiring is still in place, says Ignatiev ,if we could replace those damaged rods and cones with artificial ones, then a person who is retinally blind might be able to regain some of their sight. The artificial implants being developed at SVEC are intended to help people with retinal diseases such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.

PRATYAKSH ARORA

E.C.E 7 SEM.

TH

CO10538

CCET-26

SEMINAR 2 SYNOPSIS

Macular degeneration is an age-related disease and usually affects people over 50 years of age. As for macular degeneration, it is also genetically related , it degenerates cones in macula region, causing damage to central vision but spares peripheral retina. According to Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, UK, It accounts for almost 50% of all visual impairment in the developed world. retinitis pigmentosa is a disease, which is a hereditary genetic disease in which peripheral rods degenerate gradually progresses towards center of eye and results in tunnel vision. In the UK more than 25,000 families have RP, and globally this figure runs into millions, according to the British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society.

COMPONENTS OF THE VISUAL PROSTHETIC EYE

Digital

camera - built into a pair of glasses; captures images in realtime; sends images to microchip 2.Video-processing microchip - built into a handheld unit; processes images into electrical pulses representing patterns of light and dark; sends pulses to radio transmitter in glasses 3.lens -The transparent crystalline lens of the eye is located immediately behind the iris 4.Radio transmitter - wirelessly transmits pulses to receiver implanted above the ear or under the eye 5.Radio receiver - receiver sends pulses to the retinal implant by a hair thin, implanted wire 6.Retinal implant - array of 60 electrodes on a chip measuring 1 mm by 1 mm.

PRATYAKSH ARORA

E.C.E 7 SEM.

TH

CO10538

CCET-26

SEMINAR 2 SYNOPSIS

OPERATION OF VISUAL PROSTHESIS How does an "electronic prosthetic eye" allow blind people to see?
An incision is made in the white portion of the eye and the retina is elevated by injecting fluid underneath," explains Garcia, comparing the space to a blister forming on the skin after a burn. "Within that little blister, we place the artificial retina." These first-generation ceramic thin film microdetectors, each about 30 microns in size, are attached to a polymer carrier, which helps surgeons handle them. The background image shows human cones 5-10 microns in size in a hexagonal array. Image courtesy A. Ignatiev. Scientists aren't yet certain how the brain will interpret unfamiliar voltages from the artificial rods and cones. They believe the brain will eventually adapt, although a slow learning process might be necessary -- something akin to the way an infant learns shapes and colors for the first time. The entire system runs on a battery pack that is housed with the video processing unit. When the camera captures an image -- of, say, a tree the image is in the form of light and dark pixels. It sends this image to the video processor, which converts the tree-shaped pattern of pixels into a series of electrical pulses that represent "light" and "dark." The processor sends these pulses to a radio transmitter on the glasses, which then transmits the pulses in radio form to a receiver implanted underneath the subject's skin. The receiver is directly connected via a wire to the electrode array implanted at the back of the eye, and it sends the pulses down the wire. When the pulses reach the retinal implant, they excite the electrode array. The array acts as the artificial equivalent of the retina's photoreceptors. The electrodes are stimulated in accordance with the encoded pattern of light and dark that represents the tree, as the retina's photoreceptors would be if they were working (except that the pattern wouldn't be digitally encoded). The electrical signals generated by the stimulated electrodes then travel as neural signals to the visual center of the brain by way of the normal pathways used by healthy eyes - the optic nerves. In macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, the optical neural pathways aren't damaged. The brain, in turn, interprets these signals as a tree, and tells the subject, "You're seeing a tree." All of these takes some training for subjects to actually see a tree. At first, they see mostly light and dark spots. But after a while, they learn to interpret what the brain is showing them, and eventually perceive that pattern of light and dark as a tree. The first version of the system had 16 electrodes on the implant and was in clinical trials at the University of California in Los Angeles. Doctors implanted the retinal chip in six subjects, all of whom regained some degree of sight. They are now able to perceive shapes (such as the shaded outline of a tree) and detect movement to varying degrees. On Aug. 31, 2012 In a major development of Bionic Vision Australia researchers have successfully performed the first implantation of an early prototype prosthetic eye with 24 electrodes. Argus II becomes first "bionic eye" to gain approval for sale in U.S. getting approval by the Food and Drug Association (FDA) on 13 Feb, 2013 .

PRATYAKSH ARORA

E.C.E 7 SEM.

TH

CO10538

CCET-26

SEMINAR 2 SYNOPSIS

Argus 2

Real-time vision
The user wears a pair of glasses that contain a miniature camera and that wirelessly transmits video to a cellphone-sized computer in the wearer's pocket. This computer processes the image information and wirelessly transmits it to a tiny electronic receiver implanted in the wearer's head. When received in the implanted chip, the digital information is transformed into electrical impulses sent into the ganglion cells. From there, the brain takes over as the information travels down the optic nerve to the visual cortex at the back of the brain. The whole process occurs extremely rapidly, so that patients see in real-time. This is important any noticeable lag could stimulate the "vestibular-ocular reflex", making people feel dizzy and sick.

1: Camera on glasses views image 2: Signals are sent to hand-held device 3: Processed information is sent back to glasses and wirelessly transmitted to receiver under surface of eye 4: Receiver sends information to electrodes in retinal implant 5: Electrodes stimulate retina to send information to brain

PRATYAKSH ARORA

E.C.E 7 SEM.

TH

CO10538

CCET-26

SEMINAR 2 SYNOPSIS

Artificial Retina (ASR Silicon)

The ASR microchip is a silicon chip 2mm in diameter and 25 microns thick, less than the thickness of a human hair. It contains approximately 5,000 microscopic solar cells called microphotodiodes, each with its own stimulating electrode. These microphotodiodes are designed to convert the light energy from images into electrical chemical impulses that stimulate the remaining functional cells of the retina in patients and rp type or devices. The ASR microchip is powered solely by incident light and does not require the use of external wires or batteries. When surgically implanted under the retinain a location known as the subretinal spacethe ASR chip is designed to produce visual signals similar to those produced by the photoreceptor layer. From their sub retinal location, these artificial photoelectric signals from the ASR microchip are in a position to induce biological visual signals in the remaining functional retinal cells which may be processed and sent via the optic nerve to the brain. In preclinical laboratory testing, animal models implanted with the ASRs responded to light stimuli with retinal electrical signals

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE

The application of the research work done is directed towards the people who are visually impaired. People suffering from low vision to, people who are completely blind will and have been benefitted from this project. The findings regarding biocompatibility of implant materials will aid in other similar attempts for in human machine interface and will be known even better with the advent of time. Congenital defects in the body, which cannot be fully corrected through surgery, can then be corrected. There has been marked increase in research and clinical work aimed at understanding low vision. Future work has to be focused on the optimization and further miniaturization of the implant modules. Commercially available systems have started emerging that integrates video technology, image processing and low vision research. Implementation of a prosthetic eye has advantages. An electronic eye is more precise and enduring than a biological eye and we cannot altogether say that this would be used only to benefit the human race. In short successful implementation of a bioelectronic eye would solve many of the visual anomalities suffered by humans to date. To be honest, the final visual outcome of a patient cannot be predicted. However, the present implants that are conducted have made it possible to correct the vision by a certain amount. With this recognition of large objects and the restoration of the daynight cycle had been the primary goals of the prototype implant. Now, slowly and steadily as the time proceeds, and with the silver lining that is seen presently, It is likely

PRATYAKSH ARORA

E.C.E 7 SEM.

TH

CO10538

CCET-26

SEMINAR 2 SYNOPSIS

probable that the blind can have much more percentage of corrected vision as of present and in the future, even as corrected as a normal healthy person. Researchers throughout the world have looked for ways to improve people's lives with artificial, bionic devices. Its been 40 years since Arne Larsson received the first fully implanted cardiac pacemaker. Researchers throughout the world have looked for ways to improve people's lives with artificial, bionic devices. Bionic devices are being developed to do more than replace defective parts. Researchers are also using them to fight illnesses. Providing power to run bionic implants and making connections to the brain's control system pose the two great challenges for biomedical engineering. But whatever be the pros and cons of this system, If this system is fully developed it will change the lives of millions of people around the world. We may not restore the vision fully, but we are able to help them to at least be able to find their way, recognize faces, read books, above all lead an independent life. Electronic Prosthetic Eye is a revolution in medical science field.

PRATYAKSH ARORA

E.C.E 7 SEM.

TH

CO10538