Automated Brightness Mapping for Visual Prostheses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing visual prostheses require manual adjustment of electrode stimulation levels, which is tedious and impractical for achieving optimal brightness perception, as each patient's response to neural stimulation varies significantly, and current methods lack an automated system to map individual perceptual responses effectively.
Innovation Solution
An automated method to adjust the electrode array by providing a series of stimuli varying in current, voltage, pulse duration, or frequency, measuring and recording responses, deriving a formula to describe the relationship, and using that formula to map future stimulation, thereby optimizing neural stimulation levels for each patient.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual adjustment of electrode stimulation levels is used, then individual patient perceptual responses can be addressed, but the process is tedious and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically performs brightness mapping by having the patient respond to stimuli presentations, with the computer controlling stimulus delivery and recording responses without requiring manual adjustment by the clinician. The patient essentially fits their own prosthesis parameters through automated interaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses real-time feedback from patient responses to automatically adjust and determine stimulation parameters. The computer records patient responses to brightness stimuli and uses this feedback to establish the relationship between current amplitude and perceived brightness, automatically deriving fitting parameters.
2Productivity
If automated stimulation is used, then adjustment time is reduced, but individual patient response variations may not be adequately captured
Solution Approach 1:
The system determines individualized stimulation parameters for each patient by measuring their specific brightness perception responses. The brightness mapping function is uniquely derived for each patient based on their individual neural tissue characteristics and perceptual response patterns to electrical stimulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system varies current amplitude parameters systematically during brightness mapping to establish the relationship between electrical stimulation intensity and perceived brightness. This allows determination of optimal stimulation parameters tailored to each patient's neural response characteristics.
3Measurement precision
If multiple stimuli presentations are provided for brightness mapping, then accurate perceptual response data is obtained, but patient interaction and procedure complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The computer-based system performs multiple functions: it controls stimulus presentation, records patient responses, processes the data, and derives brightness mapping parameters automatically. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise be separate manual procedures into a single integrated automated system.
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
This approach allows for efficient and objective adjustment of electrode settings, reducing patient interaction and clinician effort, while ensuring maximum benefit and minimizing discomfort by determining the precise stimulation thresholds for each patient, leading to improved visual perception.
Implementation Method 1
Neural tissue can be artificially stimulated and activated by prosthetic devices that pass pulses of electrical current through electrodes on such a device. The passage of current causes changes in electrical potentials across visual neuronal membranes, which can initiate visual neuron action potentials
Data Source
AI summary
The invention is a method of automatically adjusting an electrode array to the neural characteristics of an individual patient. The perceptual response to electrical neural stimulation varies from patient to patient and The response to electrical neural stimulation varies from patient to patient and the relationship between current and perceived brightness is often non-linear. It is necessary to determine this relationship to fit the prosthesis settings for each patient. It is advantageous to map the perceptual responses to stimuli. The method of mapping of the present invention is to provide a plurality of stimuli that vary in current, voltage, pulse duration, frequency, or some other dimension; measuring and recording the response to those stimuli; deriving a formula or equation describing the map from the individual points; storing the formula; and using that formula to map future stimulation.