A seminar on

BIONIC EYE presented by

ABHISHEK C MATH

Under the guidance of PROF. GANESH K.

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

KLE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY HUBLI.

BIONIC EYE

A LOOK INTO CURRENT RESEARCH AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Human Eye System

Disorder of Human Eye System

Bionic Eye

Research Work

Demerits

Future prospects

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INTRODUCTION

“ There is no lovelier way to

thank God for your sight

Than by giving a helping hand

To those in dark.”

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CONTD…

“Today, we talk of artificial intelligence that has created waves of interest

in the field of robotics. When this has been possible, why not artificial

vision?”

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CONTD…

A visual prosthetic or bionic eye is a form of neural prosthesis intended to partially restore lost vision or amplify existing vision.

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HISTORY

Foerster was the first to discover that electrical stimulation of the

occipital cortex could be used to create visual percepts, phosphenes.

The first application of an implantable stimulator for vision

restoration was developed by Drs. Brindley and Lewin in 1968.

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HUMAN EYE

Human Eye is similar to a camera.

Macula is comprised of multiple layers of cells which process the initial

“analog” light energy entering the eye into “digital” electrochemical

impulses.

Human eye has nearly100

million photoreceptors.

Normal eye8

STRUCTURE OF HUMAN EYE

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HOW RETINA WORKS

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CAUSES OF BLINDNESS

a. Retina Pigmentosa :

Caused by the

breakdown in the

function of rods

and cones.

b. Macular Degenration :

Retina Pigment

Epithelium gradually

wears out.

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RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of enetic eye conditions that

leads to incurable blindness . 

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AGE RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION

The macula is the central portion of the retina and is responsible for detailed vision and color vision, the vision we use to read, thread a needle, sign a check, or recognize faces.

ARMD is a disease that progressively decrease the function of specific cellular layer of the retina’s macula.

It degenerates the cone in the macula region, causing damage to the central vision but spares peripheral retina.

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THE SOLUTION - BIONIC EYE..

Bionic Eye is an experimental visual device intended to restore functional vision.

It is a broad term for the entire electronics system consisting of the image sensors, processors, radio transmitters & receivers, and the retinal chip.

It usually takes the form of an externally-worn camera. The device is a circle about the size of a five-cent piece, inserted into

the eye where the retina sits.

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ELEMENTS OF BIONIC EYE

The bionic eye consists of three elements:

1. A miniature camera

2. A pair of dark glasses which transmits images to a radio received implanted next to the patient’s eye.

3. A tiny chip of silicon and platinum (4mm sq) that sits on the retina.

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BLOCK DIAGRAM OF BIONIC EYE

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RETINAL CHIP

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RESEARCH WORK

1. IMPLANTABLE MINIATURE TELESCOPE

This type of device is implanted in the eye's posterior chamber and works by increasing (by about three times) the size of the image projected onto the retina in order to overcome a centrally-located scotoma or blind spot.

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CONTD…

2. THE DOBELLE EYE: The stimulator chip sits in the primary visual cortex, rather than on the retina.

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DEMERITS

Not useful for patients who are blind by birth.

Not useful for glaucoma patients.

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FUTURE PROSPECTS Researchers throughout the world have looked for ways to improve

people's lives with artificial, bionic devices.

Bionic devices are being developed to do more than replace defective parts.

Researchers are also using them to fight illnesses.

Further improvements are expected to follow within five to seven years, with a 1000-electrode implant that will enable previously blind people to see .

We are now looking at devices like bionic arms, tongues, noses etc.

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REFERENCE

[1] Salma Khanam, “ BIONIC EYE” , Scribd,2010

[2] M. S. Humayun, J.D Weiland, G.Chader,: Basic Research, biomedical

engineering and clinical advances”,2001,pp.151-206.

[3] Nagarjuna Sharma,"Bionic Eye", Scribd, 2011.

[4] Victor Shnayder, Bor-rong Chen, Konrad Lorincz, Thaddeus R. F. Fulford-

Jones, and Matt Welsh. "Sensor Networks for Medical Care", Harvard

University Technical Report TR-08-05, April 2005.

[5] “ASR DEVICE”.Optobionics ,

http://www.optobionics.com/asrdevice.shtml,March 2011

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THANK YOU

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