Retinal Prosthesis with Enhanced Thermal Imaging

描述(由申请人提供)：我们建议开发和评估热成像系统作为视网膜假体的输入方式的实用性。视网膜假体使因视网膜色素变性(RP)或黄斑变性等视网膜外部退行性疾病而失明的人恢复部分视力。Argus II视网膜假体系统旨在为患有严重至严重视网膜色素变性的盲人提供视网膜电刺激以诱导视觉感知。植入的视网膜前阵列提供10×6栅格的电极。这60个像素位置的电脉冲刺激视网膜剩余的细胞，并导致对大脑中光模式的感知。当前的空间分辨率仅为0总像素。在如此低的分辨率下，普通的光和颜色信息对于佩戴者来说很难有效地处理许多重要任务。目前降低分辨率系统中的补偿技术应用于可见光图像的增强、放大和平移，并且这些技术对于视网膜植入物是有用的。然而，其他信息来源，如热成像，更自然地与视网膜阵列的有限分辨率保持一致，并可能提高该系统在重要任务中的效用，如寻找人员和行动能力。拟议的项目寻求提供并试验热成像作为视网膜植入物的输入方式。原型系统将在Argus II患者身上进行指定、设计、建造和评估。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to develop and evaluate the utility of a thermal imaging system as an input modality to a retinal prosthetic. Retinal prostheses restore partial vision to people blinded by outer retinal degenerative diseases such as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) or Macular Degeneration. The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System is intended to provide electrical stimulation of the retina to elicit visual perception in blind individuals wih severe to profound retinitis pigmentosa. The implanted epiretinal array provides a 10 x 6 grid of electrodes. Electrical pulses at these 60 pixel sites stimulate the retina's remaining cells and result in the perception of patterns of light in the brain. The current spatial resolution is only 0 total pixels. Ordinary light and color information is difficult for wearers to effectively process n many important tasks at this low resolution. Current compensation techniques in reduced resolution systems apply enhancement, magnification, and panning of visible light imagery, and these techniques have utility to retinal implants. However, other information sources such as thermal imaging more naturally align to the limited resolution of retinal arrays and may improve the utility of the system in important tasks such as people finding and mobility. The proposed project seeks to provide and experiment with thermal imagery as an input modality to retinal implants. A prototype system will be specified, designed, built, and evaluated in Argus II patients.