An Implantable Integrated System to Restore Vision in the Blind

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This proposal by a group of researchers with a proven record of steady and continuous progress toward the realization of a retinal prosthesis for the totally blind will bring about fundamental advances in electronics, telemetry, bioelectromagnetics, and material processing that will enable the realization of a device with over 1,000 electrodes.Intellectual merit: The proposed project will bring about fundamental advances toward the development of an integrated system compatible with the stringent design specification required for implantation in the human eye. Research will consider novel solutions for wireless bi-directional and high frequency transcutaneous telemetry systems, low power VLSI electronics, stimulating electrode arrays, heterogeneous computational system modeling for performance prediction, and system-on-a-chip fabrication.Broader impacts: The proposed research effort combines several disciplines toward an effective engineering solution to the problem of blindness. Over 10,000,000 visually impaired worldwide will benefit from this research activity. Further, the team envisions that the proposed research will significantly contribute to a wide range of future wireless implantable biomedical devices. This project will offer a unique research environment with strong interdisciplinary collaborations that will provide graduate and undergraduate students a diversified exposure to innovative biomedical technologies for the 21st century.