Vision rehabilitation method and device

A method for generating stimulation signals suitable for visualising an image by electrical stimulation of functional parts of a visual system of an animal, comprising:

• a phosphene data file providing step for providing a record of a location and a size parameter of each phosphene of a plurality of phosphenes, at least one phosphene having a different size than other phosphenes,
• a selection step for selecting out of the phosphene data file a phosphene for visualising a region of the image;
• and
• a stimulation signal generating step for generating stimulation signals for stimulating functional parts of the visual system so as to generate the selected phosphenes, the generating step using at least a size parameter of a selected phosphene.

A device for generating stimulation signals suitable for visualising an image by electrical stimulation of functional parts of a visual system of an animal comprising:

• means for receiving an image to be visualised by the visual system,
• a phosphene data store for storing at least a location of each phosphene of a plurality of phosphenes in the visual system, at least one phosphene having a different location than other phosphenes,
• a selector for selecting out of the phosphene data store a phosphene for visualising a region of the image, the selector using the location parameter of a selected phosphene, and
• a signal generator for generating stimulation signals for stimulating the functional parts of the visual system so as to generate the selected phosphenes, at least one stimulation signal being suitable for changing the location of a phosphene in the visual system.

A device for generating stimulation signals suitable for visualising an image by electrical stimulation of functional parts of a visual system of an animal comprising:

• means for receiving an image to be visualised by the visual system,
• a phosphene data store for storing at least a size parameter and a location of each phosphene of a plurality of phosphenes, at least one phosphene having a different size than other phosphenes,
• a selector for selecting out of the phosphene data store a phosphene for visualising a region of the image, the selector using the size parameter of a selected phosphene, and
• a signal generator for generating the stimulation signals for stimulating the functional parts of the visual system so as to generate the selected phosphenes.

A method for generating stimulation signals suitable for visualising an image by electrical stimulation of functional parts of a visual system of an animal, comprising

• an image providing step for providing a first image to be visualised—a phosphene data file providing step for providing a record of a location of each phosphene of a plurality of phosphenes,
• a selection step for selecting out of the phosphene data file a phosphene for visualising a region of the first image,
• subtracting an image corresponding to the selected phosphene from the first image to form a second image, and
• a stimulation signal generating step for generating stimulation signals for stimulating functional parts of the visual system suitable to generate the selected phosphene(s).

A device for generating stimulation signals suitable for visualising an image by electrical stimulation of functional parts of a visual system of an animal, comprising:

• means for receiving a first image to be visualised,
• a phosphene data store for storing at least a location of each phosphene of a plurality of phosphenes,
• a selector for selecting out of the phosphene data store a phosphene for visualising a region of the first image,
• means for subtracting an image of the selected phosphene from the first image to form a second image, and
• a stimulation signal generator for generating stimulation signals for stimulating the functional parts of the visual system suitable to generate the selected phosphene(s).