Hemispherical Pattern Stimulus for Peripheral Retina Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ERG pattern stimulus sources primarily focus on the central visual field, missing the peripheral retina where eye diseases like glaucoma often first present, limiting early detection capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A hemispherical screen presenting a checkerboard pattern that inverts at a controlled frequency, allowing stimulation of the entire visual field including the far peripheral area without physical contact, using a system with LEDs and a controller to display the pattern and record bioelectric signals from the retina or brain.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a conventional flat monitor is used to present stimulus pattern, then the stimulus is presented to the subject's center visual field, but the peripheral retina function cannot be measured
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a hemispherical or curved screen surface instead of a flat monitor to present the checkerboard stimulus pattern. This curvature allows the stimulus to cover the entire visual field including peripheral regions, enabling measurement of peripheral retina function while maintaining the ease of presenting a standardized pattern stimulus.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the checkerboard stimulus is presented to the entire visual field using a hemispherical screen, then peripheral retina function can be measured, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hemispherical screen is divided into multiple independently controllable light-emitting elements (LEDs or other illumination sources) arranged in annular rows and radial columns. This segmentation allows the system to present the checkerboard pattern to specific regions of the visual field while keeping other regions dark, enabling selective stimulation of different retinal areas and reducing overall system complexity through modular control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically controls the illumination of different screen regions based on the required stimulus pattern. The controller selectively activates or deactivates specific annular rows and radial columns to present the checkerboard pattern only in the desired visual field regions, allowing flexible adaptation to different testing requirements while managing device complexity.
3Reliability
If conventional flat monitor systems are used, then the system structure is simple, but early detection of peripheral retina diseases like glaucoma is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The hemispherical screen geometry ensures that the checkerboard stimulus pattern covers the entire visual field including far peripheral regions, thereby stimulating the peripheral retina which is critical for early glaucoma detection. This curvature-based design directly expands the retinal area covered by the stimulus while maintaining reliable disease detection capability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables early detection and diagnosis of glaucoma and other diseases by effectively measuring peripheral retina function, providing detailed visual pathway assessments and identifying specific retinal damage regions.
Implementation Method 1
The illumination sources are arranged on the hemispherical concave surface in a plurality of annular rows and a plurality of radial columns. The control is configured to operate the illumination sources to display a checkerboard pattern by illuminating a first subset of the illumination sources and dimming a second subset of the illumination sources.
Data Source
AI summary
A pattern stimulus system is described that includes a hemispherical concave surface, a plurality of illumination sources, and a controller. The illumination sources are arranged on the hemispherical concave surface in a plurality of annular rows and a plurality of radial columns. The control is configured to operate the illumination sources to display a checkerboard pattern by illuminating a first subset of the illumination sources and dimming a second subset of the illumination sources. The control is further configured to invert the checkerboard pattern by dimming the first subset of the illumination sources and illuminating the second subset of the illumination sources. Methods are also described for using the pattern stimulus system to evaluate a condition of the eye and to diagnose diseases of the eye.