Apparatus and method for transmitting prosthetic information to the brain
First Claim
1. An apparatus for generating simulated neuron signals about an external stimulus sensed by a sensor that can be supplied to the brain using a neural probe comprising:
- means for inputting a plurality of electrical signals produced by a sensor, the signals representative of a sensed external stimulus; and
means for converting said input electrical signals into a plurality of simulated neuron signals, each simulated neuron signal containing a plurality of temporally modulated simulated neuron impulses.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for transmitting prosthetic information to the brain contains an array of sensory elements that receive energy from an external stimulus and process those signals via neural filters and neural waveforms to produce a pulse or `spike` train that is temporally encoded with information that is functionally related to the external stimulus. The simulated spike trains, when applied to an appropriate area of the brain, produce perceptions that are functionally related to the sensed external stimuli so that a subject can discriminate between different spike trains representative of different external stimuli.
82 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus for generating simulated neuron signals about an external stimulus sensed by a sensor that can be supplied to the brain using a neural probe comprising:
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means for inputting a plurality of electrical signals produced by a sensor, the signals representative of a sensed external stimulus; and means for converting said input electrical signals into a plurality of simulated neuron signals, each simulated neuron signal containing a plurality of temporally modulated simulated neuron impulses. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An apparatus for generating simulated neuron signals about an external visual stimulus that can be applied to the brain using a neural probe comprising:
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means for sensing an external visual stimulus; and means for converting a sensed external visual stimulus into a plurality of simulated neuron signals, each simulated neuron signal containing a plurality of temporally modulated simulated neuron impulses. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for encoding visual information received as a plurality of electrical signals from a photodetection device into a plurality of encoded signals comprising:
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means for inputting a plurality of electrical signals representing visual information; and means for converting said plurality of electrical signals a plurality of encoded signals, said converting means comprising; means for weighting each electrical signal with a plurality of predetermined weighting values to produce a plurality of sets of weighted signals, means for summing each of set of weighted signals to produce a plurality of summed signals, means for transforming said plurality of summed signals using a plurality of predetermined transforms into a plurality of time dependent signals, and means for summing said plurality of time dependent signals to produce one of said encoded signals. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A method for generating a plurality of simulated neuron signals representative of an external stimulus that can be applied to the brain using a neural probe comprising the steps of:
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sensing an external stimulus; and converting the sensed external stimulus into a plurality of simulated neuron signals, each simulated neuron signal containing a plurality of temporally modulated simulated neuron impulses. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for encoding visual information received as a plurality of electrical signals from a photodetection device into plurality of encoded signals comprising the step of:
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determining values for a plurality of sets of weighing values; determining values for a plurality of orthogonal transforms; inputting a plurality of electrical signals representing visual information; and converting said plurality of electrical signals into a plurality of encoded signals using said weighting values and orthogonal transforms. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. An apparatus for generating simulated neuron signals about an external stimulus that can be applied to the brain using a neural probe comprising:
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an array of photoreceptors for sensing said external visual stimulus, each photoreceptor producing electrical signals representative of a portion of said external visual stimulus; and means for producing a plurality of transform sum signals, one for each photoreceptor of said array, said producing means comprising; means for storing a plurality of predetermined sets of weighting values, a plurality of multipliers, each multiplier multiplying said electrical signals and one set of said weighting values, to obtain a plurality of sets of weighted signals, a plurality of summing amplifiers, one for each set of weighted signals, for adding each set of weighted signals to obtain a plurality of summed signals, a plurality of cubic function generators, one for each summed signal, for scaling each of said summed signals to obtain a plurality of scaled signals, a plurality of sample and hold circuits, one for each scaled signal, for sampling and holding each of said plurality of scaled signals, means for storing a plurality of sets of predetermined neural transform values, a multiplexer for selecting said plurality of scaled signals, an analog to digital convertor for digitizing each of said selected sampled and held scaled signals into digitized scale signals, and a microprocessor for multiplying each of said digitized scale signal with a corresponding neural transform value to obtain transformed signals and adding these transformed signals to obtain a transform sum signal; means for transforming said plurality of transform sum signals into a plurality of simulated neuron signals in which each simulated neuron signal contains a plurality of temporally modulated simulated neuron impulses, said transforming means comprising; a microprocessor for adding successive interval values of said transform sum signals to obtain successive added values, a threshold register for storing a preset threshold value, a counter that produces a counter signal when said successive added values exceed said preset threshold, and a monostable multivibrator for producing one of said simulated neuron impulses.
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Specification