Logarithmic light intensifier for use with photoreceptor-based implanted retinal prosthetics and those prosthetics
First Claim
1. A retinal prosthesis comprising:
- a first light receiver for collection of a received visual image;
a light amplifier coupled to said first light receiver, amplifying said received visual image beyond incident light levels, and producing an amplified visual image;
a light transmitter, coupled to said light amplifier, and transmitting said amplified visual image;
a second light receiver for collection of said amplified visual image;
a transducer, coupled to said second light receiver, for converting said amplified visual image into an electrical signal; and
an electrode coupled to said transducer suitable for stimulating a retina.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This invention is for directly modulating a beam of photons onto the retinas of patients who have extreme vision impairment or blindness. Its purpose is to supply enough imaging energy to retinal prosthetics implanted in the eye which operate essentially by having light (external to the eye) activating photoreceptors, or photo-electrical material. The invention provides sufficient light amplification and does it logarithmically. While it has sufficient output light power, the output light level still remains at a safe level. Most preferred embodiments of this invention provide balanced biphasic stimulation with no net charge injection into the eye. Both optical and electronic magnification for the image, as for example, using an optical zoom lens, is incorporated. Otherwise, it would not be feasible to zoom in on items of particular interest or necessity. Without proper adjustment, improper threshold amplitudes would obtain, as well as uncomfortable maximum thresholds. Therefore, to adjust for these, a way of proper adjustment for the threshold amplitudes and maximum comfortable thresholds is provided. Furthermore, to the extent that individual stimulation sites in the retina give different color perceptions, upon stimulation, then colors of the viewed scene is correlated with specific stimulation sites to provide a certain amount of color vision.
101 Citations
67 Claims
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1. A retinal prosthesis comprising:
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a first light receiver for collection of a received visual image;
a light amplifier coupled to said first light receiver, amplifying said received visual image beyond incident light levels, and producing an amplified visual image;
a light transmitter, coupled to said light amplifier, and transmitting said amplified visual image;
a second light receiver for collection of said amplified visual image;
a transducer, coupled to said second light receiver, for converting said amplified visual image into an electrical signal; and
an electrode coupled to said transducer suitable for stimulating a retina. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 67)
a carrier providing power to said second light receiver and said transducer; and
a modulated signal selected from the set of frequency modulation, pulse width modulation and phase shift modulation, and encoding said amplified visual image.
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7. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 5, wherein said necessary power is provided on a first light frequency and said amplified visual image is provided on a second light frequency.
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8. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 1, further comprising control means for temporarily interrupting said amplified visual image.
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9. The retinal Prosthesis according to claim 1 further comprising a size transformer of said received visual image.
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10. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 9, wherein said size transformer of said received visual image is a magnifier for magnifying said received visual image.
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11. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 10, wherein said magnifier is an optical zoom lens.
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12. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 1, wherein said transducer produces electrical signals imposing no net charge upon the retina.
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13. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 12, wherein said alternating electrical signals are biphasic pulses.
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14. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 13, wherein said biphasic pulses comprises a negative pulse followed by a positive pulse.
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15. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 14, further comprising control means for interrupting said signal between each positive and negative pulse.
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16. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 1, wherein said light transmitter is a laser.
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17. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 16, wherein said laser is a scanning laser.
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18. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 17, wherein said scanning laser provides a signal comprising:
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a carrier providing power to said second light receiver and said transducer; and
a modulated signal encoding said amplified visual image.
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19. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 17, wherein said necessary power is provided on a first light frequency and said amplified visual image is provided on a second light frequency.
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20. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 17, wherein said scanning laser scans said second light receiver in a raster pattern.
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67. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 1, further comprising an oxide layer disposed on said electrode suitable for forming a capacitor when implanted in an eye.
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21. An implantable neurostimulator for stimulation of a retina comprising:
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a source of electrical stimulus;
two or more electrodes electrically coupled to said source of electrical stimulus; and
a oxide layer deposited on at least one of said two or more electrodes suitable for forming a capacitor when implanted in an eye. - View Dependent Claims (22, 42)
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23. A retinal prosthesis comprising:
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a first light receiver collecting a received visual image;
a first transducer, coupled to said first light receiver, converting said received visual image into a first electrical signal;
an amplifier coupled to said first transducer, amplifying said first electrical signal beyond incident light levels;
a second transducer converting said first electrical signal to a amplified visual image;
a light transmitter, coupled to said second transducer, and transmitting said amplified visual image;
a second light receiver collecting said amplified visual image;
a third transducer coupled to said second light receiver, converting said amplified visual image into a second electrical signal; and
an electrode coupled to said third transducer suitable for stimulating a retina. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 65)
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43. A method of improving vision comprising:
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receiving a visual image;
amplifying said visual image beyond incident light levels;
transmitting an amplified visual image;
receiving said amplified visual image;
converting said amplified visual image to an electrical signal; and
stimulating a retina with said electrical signal. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 66)
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54. A retinal prosthesis comprising:
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a light receiver for collection of a received visual image;
an amplifier coupled to said light receiver, amplifying said received visual image beyond incident light levels in accordance with a predetermined transfer function, and producing an amplified visual image;
a transducer, coupled to said light amplifier, for converting said amplified visual image into an electrical signal; and
an electrode coupled to said transducer suitable for stimulating a retina. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
an alignment device receiving a reflected image of said scanning laser; and
an alignment control device directing said scanning laser in accordance with its reflected image.
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64. The retinal prosthesis according to claim 63, further comprising fiduciary marks of limited reflectivity to assist in aiming said scanning laser.
Specification