GURUNANAK INSTITUTIONS

TECHNICAL SEMINAR

By
C.Prashanth Kumar
ECE,11-424
Artificial
Eye
Contents:
- How human eye works?
- Diseases related to eye

- What is Artificial Silicon Retina?

- Implantation
- Working

- What is Bionic Eye?

- Components
- Working

- Results & Advantages

- Limitations & Drawbacks

- Conclusion
Working of human eye :

-The eye is one of the most important

organs of the body.Before we learn
about ASR,it is important to know the
working of natural retina.

-The light coming from an object enters

the eye through cornea and pupil and
forms inverted image on the retina.

-The light sensitive cells of the retina

gets activated with the incidence of light
and generate electric signals. These
electric signals are sent to the brain by
the optic nerves and the brain interprets
the electrical signals in such away that
we see an image .
-There are mainly two kinds of diseases related to eye:

Age related macular degeneration(AMD or ARMD): Macular

degeneration, often age-related macular degeneration , is a medical
condition that usually affects older adults and results in a loss of vision
in the center of the visual field (the macula) because of damage to the
retina.
Retinitis Pigmentosa: It is a chronic hereditary eye disease
characterized by black pigmentation, gradual degeneration of the retina
and causes narrowing of vision.
What is ASR ?

A visual prosthesis, is an experimental visual device intended to

restore functional vision in those suffering from partial or
total blindness.

-In 1983 Joao Lobo Antunes, a world renowned Portuguese

doctor, implanted a bionic eye in a person born blind.

- The brothers Alan Chow and Vincent Chow have developed a

microchip containing 3500 photo diodes, which detect light and
convert it into electrical impulses called ASR.
Size of an ASR:

- The ASR is an extremely tiny device.It has a diameter of just 2mm

and is thinner than human hair.
Implantation:

- Surgeons make three tiny incisions no

larger than the diameter of a needle in the
white part of the eye.Through these
incisions,they introduce a miniature cutting
and vaccuuming device that removes gel in
the middle of eye and replaces it with
saline.

- Then,a pinpoint opening is made in the

retina through which they inject fluid to lift
up the portion of retina from the back of
eye,which creates a small packet in the sub
retinal space for the device to fit in.Finally
the retina is then released over the ASR.
Working of ASR :

- The ASR microchip is a 2mm in diameter silicon chip (same concept as

computer chips) containing ~5,000 microscopic solar cells called
"microphotodiodes" that each have their own stimulating electrode.

- It detects light and convert it into electrical impulses, which stimulate

healthy retinal ganglion cells and these pulses are sent brain by optic
nerve.
Power needed for ASR :

-For any microchip to work it needs power, and the amazing thing
about the ASR is that it receives all of its needed power from the light
entering the eye.

-This means that with the ASR implant in place behind the retina, it
receives all of the light entering the eye. This solar energy eliminates
the need for any wires, batteries or other secondary devices to supply
power.
Images Shows which type of images are seen to a blind
person using ASR Technology :
BIONIC EYE
History of BIONIC EYE :
- Dr.Mark Humayun, Dr. Eugene Dejuan along with few more scientists
demonstrated that a visually impaired person could be made to see light by
stimulating the optic nerves behind the retina with electrical impulses.This test
proved that the nerves behind retina still functioned even when the retina had
degenerated.

- Based on this scientists set out to create a devise that could translate images
to electrical pulses that could restore vision.

- Groups of researchers have found that blind people can see spots of light
when electrical currents stimulate cells,following the experimental insertion of
an electrode device near to the retina.

- The main target of the research was:

_small enough to be implanted in the eye.
_supplied with a continuous source of power.
_bio-compatible with eye tissues and its surroundings.
Components required for BIONIC EYE:
Camera mounted on eye glases:

-This camera is placed on the goggles.

The camera captures the image and converts it
into pixels of black and white.
- The battery required for this is provided from
the video processing unit.

Video processing unit (VPU) :

- Video Processing Unit is device which

simplifies the image as spots of light and
then reduces the image to the number of
photodiodes.This is connected to goggles
through conneccting wires.
Eye implant :

- These are the MICROELECTRODES

array.

- 68 flat platinum electrodes of 1mm

diameter are pierced through the holes
into the nucleus of neurons of the
occipital lobe.
Working of BIONIC EYE :
-The camera mounted on a pair of eyeglasses, captures the scene in
front of the wearer and sends it to VPU on the patient's belt.

-The processor translates the image into a series of signals that the
brain can understand. The group of wires pass the processed image
which are generated by the processor to the transmitter.

-RF trasmitter sends the signal to the RF receiver which is near the eye
implant wirelessly.

- Receiver attains the transmitted signal and demodulation is done

which is sent to the microelectrode strip.

- These electrodes converts it into electrical pulses and provide it to the

optic nerve.
Role of BIONIC EYE in tracking
objects :

- It provides information about the edges of

images rather than a whole picture. Edge
information is usually sufficient for detecting
and tracking objects.

- The top image shows the raw output of the

retina chip.

- The middle one is a picture processed from

it.

- The third one shows how moving face

would appear.
Results and Advantages :

- Identify the location or movement of objects and people.

Recognize large letters, words or sentences.

- Helps in other activities of daily life, such as detecting street

curbs and walking on a sidewalk without stepping off.

- Ability to perform visual tasks demonstrated in many patients.

- Upgradable external hardware and software to benefit from

future innovations.

- The brain has an amazing ability to adapt to new input and to

improve his or her understanding of what is being “seen” via an
artificial vision system.
Limitations and Drawbacks :

- Repairing is difficult if any of the devices got damaged.

- Those who lost their visions due to other reasons could not use this
device.

- It may not work for people blinded as children or as infants,

because the visual cortex do not develop normally.

- Surgery is required to implant the electrode array.

The approximated cost of the device is $70,000.
Conclusion :

- Revolutionary piece of technology.

- The first useful artificial eye is now helping a blind man walk safely
around and read large letters.

- Good news for AMD and Retinitis Pigmentosa patients.

-Research is going for high resolution images.

THANK YOU !!
References :

-Wikipedia
-Google.com
-Encyclopedia
-Optobionics.com