Encoding of size and brightness of percepts in a visual prosthesis
AssigneeSecond Sight Medical Products, Inc.
InventorsDevyani Nanduri, Mark S. Humayun, James D. Weiland, Jessy Dorn, Robert J. Greenberg, Ione Fine
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Abstract
Methods of electrically stimulating percepts in a patient with a visual prosthesis are discussed. Changes in amplitude of stimulation increase both the perceived brightness and the perceived size of the precept. Changes in frequency of stimulation change the perceived brightness without altering the perceived size of the percept. Hence, a source image may be mapped to a combination of amplitude and frequency that best induces the desired image.
Claims20
A method of stimulating perception of vision with a visual prosthesis comprising adjusting percept size by adjusting amplitude and adjusting percept brightness by adjusting frequency of a stimulation signal of at least one electrode of the visual prosthesis.
A method for adjusting size and brightness of a percept independently, comprising:
- providing a visual prosthesis with at least one electrode;
- stimulating the at least one electrode with a pulsed electrical signal to elicit a percept;
- adjusting amplitude of the pulsed electrical signal applied to at least one electrode and measuring resulting percept size and brightness;
- adjusting frequency of the pulsed electrical signal applied to at least one electrode and measuring resulting percept size and brightness;
- deriving a model of the resulting percept size and brightness from the adjusting of amplitude and frequency;
- and
- utilizing the model to adjust the amplitude and frequency of the pulsed electrical signal for stimulating the at least one electrode to elicit a percept of a controlled size and brightness.
A visual prosthesis comprising:
- an array of electrodes configured for placement in proximity of a visual neural tissue;
- a neural stimulator, coupled to the array of electrodes and adapted for applying stimuli through the array of electrodes to visual neural tissue to elicit percepts;
- a control device, coupled to the neural stimulator and adapted for controlling amplitude of the stimuli, and controlling frequency of the stimuli independently of the amplitude of the stimuli and
- a computing device, coupled to the control device and adapted for deriving a model for size and brightness of each percept as a function of the amplitude and frequency of the stimuli,
- wherein the control device is further adapted for adjusting the amplitude and frequency of the stimuli based on the model to elicit at least one percept of an expected size and brightness.
A device for controlling a visual prosthesis, comprising:
- means for controlling amplitude and frequency of stimuli to be applied to visual neural tissue by the visual prosthesis;
- means for deriving a model for adjusting the amplitude and frequency of the stimuli based on desired percept size and brightness;
- and
- means for applying the model to adjust the amplitude and frequency of the stimuli to be applied based on the desired percept size and brightness.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.