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A preliminary implementation of an active intraocular prosthesis as a new image acquisition device for a cortical visual prosthesis

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Abstract

An active intraocular prosthesis is herein proposed as a new image acquisition device for a cortical visual prosthesis. A conventional intraocular prosthesis is a passive device that helps blind patients underwent eye enucleation to maintain the shape of an eyeball. In contrast, an active intraocular prosthesis, which works as an implantable wireless camera, can capture real-time images and transmit them to a cortical visual prosthesis to restore partial vision of the patients. This active device has distinct advantages in that it can garner a variety of image information while focusing on objects in accordance with natural eye movements, compared with a glasses-mounted camera and implanted micro-photodiodes in typical artificial vision systems. Coated with an epoxy and sealed by an elastomer for biocompatibility as well as durability, the active intraocular prosthesis was fabricated in a spherical form miniaturized enough to be inserted into the eye. Its operation was evaluated by wireless image acquisition displaying a processed gray-scale image. Furthermore, signal-to-noise ratio measurements were conducted to find a reliable communication range of the fabricated prosthesis, while it was covered by an 8-mm-thick biological medium that mimicked in vivo environments. In conclusion, the feasibility of the active intraocular prosthesis to cooperate with a cortical visual prosthesis is discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the Grant to CABMC funded by Defense Acquisition Program Administration (UD170030ID) and in part by the Samsung Electronics Corp. (#5264-20180116).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, South Korea

    Shinyong Shim & Sung June Kim

  2. Inter-university Semiconductor Research Center, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, South Korea

    Shinyong Shim & Sung June Kim

  3. Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, South Korea

    Kangmoon Seo

  4. Institute on Aging, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, South Korea

    Sung June Kim

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  1. Shinyong Shim
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  2. Kangmoon Seo
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Correspondence to Sung June Kim.

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Shim S, Seo K, and Kim SJ declare that they have no conflict of interest in relation to the work in this article at the time of this writing.

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Shim, S., Seo, K. & Kim, S.J. A preliminary implementation of an active intraocular prosthesis as a new image acquisition device for a cortical visual prosthesis. J Artif Organs 23, 262–269 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10047-020-01168-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10047-020-01168-x

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