Article: Tailored optical stimulation for the blind
Source: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland), via ScienceDaily
Published: June 17, 2021
Scientists in Europe developed a personalized protocol for optimizing intraneural stimulation of optic nerve fibers
for the blind that takes into account feedback from the viewer’s brain. Although current neurotechnology in optic nerve stimulation can only provide simple visual signals, the researchers envision designing these simple visual signals to be meaningful in assisting the blind with daily living. Their idea is to stimulate the optic nerve to induce phosphenes, the sensation of light in one’s visual field. The current technology is limited by image resolution due to contraints of size difference between the optic nerve fibers compared to the electrodes used for intraneural stimulation. A challenge for neuroprosthetics in general, intraneural stimulation of optic nerve fibers is a greater difficulty due to the extreme complexity of visual signals. The model has thus far been tested on convolutional neural networks (CNN), artificial neural networks based on machine learning and used in computer vision for detecting and classifying objects. Psychophysical tests involving ten healthy
subjects were also performed to imitate what would be seen in optic nerve stimulation, with results compatible with CNN, according to the authors. The first author of the study states, "Our study shows that it is possible to elicit desired activity patterns
in deep layers of a CNN that simulate cortical visual areas." The researchers acknowledge that the project is tremendous, taken one step at a time. They are considering working with collaborators in Rome, Italy for future clinical trials.
My rating of this study:
⭐⭐Romeni S, Zoccolan D and Micera S. "A machine learning framework to optimize optic nerve electrical stimulation for vision restoration."
Patterns. 100286.
16 June 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.15454
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