Eye movements as a marker for visual prosthesis spatial mapping - A feasibility study using a blind patient implanted with the Argus II retinal prosthesis.

Abstract

Spatial mapping, the location in space of a perceived location due to an implanted electrode's electrical stimulation is important in the design of visual prostheses. Generally, a visual prosthesis system consists of an implanted electrode array, an external camera that acquires the image, and a transmitter that sends the information to the implanted electrodes. In cortical visual implant, the layout of the implanted array in most cases does not match the retinotopic map and it is necessary to find the location of the percept of each electrode in world coordinates. Herein, we show the feasibility of using eye movements as markers to construct the spatial map of the implanted electrodes. A blind patient implanted with the Argus II retinal prosthesis was instructed to conduct an eye movement to the location of a percept generated by an electrical stimulation at different retinal locations. By analyzing the eye movements triggered by the electrical stimulation, we were able to reconstruct the spatial map of the electrodes. Our experiment demonstrates that a blind person still maintains control of eye movements that can be used to map the percept location of the implanted electrodes.