44 results about "Retinal stimulation" patented technology

A flexible circuit electrode array with more than one layer of metal traces comprising: a polymer base layer; more than one layer of metal traces, separated by polymer layers, deposited on said polymer base layer, including electrodes suitable to stimulate neural tissue; and a polymer top layer deposited on said polymer base layer and said metal traces. Polymer materials are useful as electrode array bodies for neural stimulation. They are particularly useful for retinal stimulation to create artificial vision, cochlear stimulation to create artificial hearing, or cortical stimulation many purposes. The pressure applied against the retina, or other neural tissue, by an electrode array is critical. Too little pressure causes increased electrical resistance, along with electric field dispersion. Too much pressure may block blood flow.

Polymer materials are useful as electrode array bodies for neural stimulation. They are particularly useful for retinal stimulation to create artificial vision, cochlear stimulation to create artificial hearing, and cortical stimulation, and many related purposes. The pressure applied against the retina, or other neural tissue, by an electrode array is critical. Too little pressure causes increased electrical resistance, along with electric field dispersion. Too much pressure may block blood flow. Common flexible circuit fabrication techniques generally require that a flexible circuit electrode array be made flat. Since neural tissue is almost never flat, a flat array will necessarily apply uneven pressure. Further, the edges of a flexible circuit polymer array may be sharp and cut the delicate neural tissue. By applying the right amount of heat to a completed array, a curve can be induced. With a thermoplastic polymer it may be further advantageous to repeatedly heat the flexible circuit in multiple molds, each with a decreasing radius. Further, it is advantageous to add material along the edges. It is further advantageous to provide a fold or twist in the flexible circuit array. Additional material may be added inside and outside the fold to promote a good seal with tissue.

Polymer materials are useful as electrode array bodies for neural stimulation. They are particularly useful for retinal stimulation to create artificial vision, cochlear stimulation to create artificial hearing, or cortical stimulation many purposes. The pressure applied against the retina, or other neural tissue, by an electrode array is critical. Too little pressure causes increased electrical resistance, along with electric field dispersion. Too much pressure may block blood flow. Common flexible circuit fabrication techniques generally require that a flexible circuit electrode array be made flat. Since neural tissue is almost never flat, a flat array will necessarily apply uneven pressure. Further, the edges of a flexible circuit polymer array may be sharp and cut the delicate neural tissue. By applying the right amount of heat to a completed array, a curve can be induced. With a thermoplastic polymer it may be further advantageous to repeatedly heat the flexible circuit in multiple molds, each with a decreasing radius. Further, it is advantageous to add material along the edges. It is further advantageous to provide a fold or twist in the flexible circuit array. Additional material may be added inside and outside the fold to promote a good seal with tissue.

An object is to provide an electrode member for retina stimulation which can form an actually transmitted image without pressing the retina in an excessively broad range and to provide an artificial retina device using the electrode member. An electrode member includes electrodes disposed in a shape of a vertical and horizontal matrix, a support holding each electrode at a predetermined position, and a fixing pin fixing four corners of the support to a sclera. Each electrode projects in the shape of a needle from an opposed face of the support toward a retina. The fixing pin is provided with a positioning projection allowing a distal end of each electrode to come into contact with retinal bipolar cells and limiting the overall opposed face to come into contact with a retina when the support is fixed to the retina.

A visible and infrared light powered retinal implant is disclosed that is implanted into the subretinal space for electrically inducing formed vision in the eye. The retinal implant includes a stacked microphotodetector arrangement having an image sensing pixel layer and a voltage and current gain adjustment layer for providing variable voltage and current gain to the implant so as to obtain better low light implant performance than the prior art, and to compensate for high retinal stimulation thresholds present in some retinal diseases. A first light filter is positioned on one of the microphotodetectors in each of the image sensing pixels of the implant, and a second light filter is positioned on the other of the microphotodetectors in the image sensing pixel of the implant, each of the microphotodetectors of the pixel to respond to a different wavelength of light to produce a sensation of darkness utilizing the first wavelength, and a sensation of light using the second wavelength, and a third light filter is positioned on a portion of the voltage and current gain adjustment layer that is exposed to light, to allow adjustment of the implant voltage and current gain of the device by use of a third wavelength of light.

A flexible circuit electrode array with more than one layer of metal traces comprising: a polymer base layer; more than one layer of metal traces, separated by polymer layers, deposited on said polymer base layer, including electrodes suitable to stimulate neural tissue; and a polymer top layer deposited on said polymer base layer and said metal traces. Polymer materials are useful as electrode array bodies for neural stimulation. They are particularly useful for retinal stimulation to create artificial vision, cochlear stimulation to create artificial hearing, or cortical stimulation many purposes. The pressure applied against the retina, or other neural tissue, by an electrode array is critical. Too little pressure causes increased electrical resistance, along with electric field dispersion. Too much pressure may block blood flow.

The present invention provides a visual prosthesis comprising: image capture means for capturing an image from a surrounding environment; image processing means for processing the image and converting the image into a transmissible image signal; signal processing means for processing and converting the image signal into a stimulation signal; and a retina stimulation device (10) adapted to stimulate the retina of both left and right eyes in accordance with the stimulation signal. The retina stimulation device (10) comprises a left-side stimulation unit (11) having an electrode array (12) for stimulating the retina of the left eye, and a right-side stimulation unit (11′) having an electrode array (12′) for stimulating the retina of the right eye, with the left-side stimulation unit (11) having a configuration which is reversed with respect to a configuration of the right-side stimulation unit (11′). Furthermore, the electrode array (12) has a plurality of individual electrodes (15) distributed in a predetermined pattern across a substrate (16) of the electrode array for stimulating the nerve cells of the retina. The electrode array substrate (16) is elongate in a lateral or transverse direction, namely in a medial-lateral direction with respect to an implantation orientation, such that the electrode array has a height-to-width ratio of less than 1, preferably less than 0.8, more preferably in the range of 0.6 to 0.2, and most preferably in the range of about 0.5 to about 0.3.