Abstract
Visual retinal prostheses aim to restore vision for blind individuals who suffer from outer retinal degenerative diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. Perception through retinal prostheses is very limited, but it can be improved by applying object isolation. We used an object isolation algorithm based on integral imaging to isolate objects of interest according to their depth from the camera and applied image processing manipulation to the isolated-object images. Subsequently, we applied a spatial prosthetic vision simulation that converted the isolated-object images to phosphene images. We compared the phosphene images for two types of input images, the original image (before applying object isolation), and the isolated-object image to illustrate the effects of object isolation on simulated prosthetic vision without and with multiple spatial variations of phosphenes, such as size and shape variations, spatial shifts, and dropout rate. The results show an improvement in the perceived shape, contrast, and dynamic range (number of gray levels) of objects in the phosphene image.
Highlights
Retinitis pigmentosa and geographic atrophy are outer retinal progressive degenerative diseases that cause a loss of photoreceptor cells
One approach intended to help with blindness caused by outer retinal diseases is the use of a retinal prosthesis, which produces artificial electrical stimulation of the remaining healthy cells in the other layers of the retina
Retinal prostheses aim to restore vision to blind individuals suffering from outer retinal progressive degenerative disorders, such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration [6,7,8,9,10,11]
Summary
Retinitis pigmentosa and geographic atrophy are outer retinal progressive degenerative diseases that cause a loss of photoreceptor cells. Both diseases currently have no cure [1,2] and together affect almost 0.7% of the global population [3,4]. One approach intended to help with blindness caused by outer retinal diseases is the use of a retinal prosthesis, which produces artificial electrical stimulation of the remaining healthy cells in the other layers of the retina. Retinal prostheses are a type of visual prostheses in which a microelectrode array is placed on the outer surface of the retina (subretinal prostheses), the inner surface of the retina (epiretinal prostheses), or the suprachoroidal layer (suprachoroidal prostheses), and remaining functioning cells of the retina are stimulated. Retinal prostheses aim to restore vision to blind individuals suffering from outer retinal progressive degenerative disorders, such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration [6,7,8,9,10,11]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
