Cited by 231Neuroscience and Neural EngineeringTactile and Sensory InteractionsEEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces

Restoration of vision in blind individuals using bionic devices: A review with a focus on cortical visual prostheses

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Lewis, Philip M., Ackland, Helen M., Lowery, Arthur J., Rosenfeld, Jeffrey V.·2015·Brain Research

Abstract

The field of neurobionics offers hope to patients with sensory and motor impairment. Blindness is a common cause of major sensory loss, with an estimated 39 million people worldwide suffering from total blindness in 2010. Potential treatment options include bionic devices employing electrical stimulation of the visual pathways. Retinal stimulation can restore limited visual perception to patients with retinitis pigmentosa, however loss of retinal ganglion cells precludes this approach. The optic nerve, lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex provide alternative stimulation targets, with several research groups actively pursuing a cortically-based device capable of driving several hundred stimulating electrodes. While great progress has been made since the earliest works of Brindley and Dobelle in the 1960s and 1970s, significant clinical, surgical, psychophysical, neurophysiological, and engineering challenges remain to be overcome before a commercially-available cortical implant will be realized. Selection of candidate implant recipients will require assessment of their general, psychological and mental health, and likely responses to visual cortex stimulation. Implant functionality, longevity and safety may be enhanced by careful electrode insertion, optimization of electrical stimulation parameters and modification of immune responses to minimize or prevent the host response to the implanted electrodes. Psychophysical assessment will include mapping the positions of potentially several hundred phosphenes, which may require repetition if electrode performance deteriorates over time. Therefore, techniques for rapid psychophysical assessment are required, as are methods for objectively assessing the quality of life improvements obtained from the implant. These measures must take into account individual differences in image processing, phosphene distribution and rehabilitation programs that may be required to optimize implant functionality. In this review, we detail these and other challenges facing developers of cortical visual prostheses in addition to briefly outlining the epidemiology of blindness, and the history of cortical electrical stimulation in the context of visual prosthetics.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.brainres.2014.11.020

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  • Adverse effects of cortical electrode implants may partly be avoided by limiting the chronic electrical stimulation itself.

    “and these adverse effects may partly be avoided by limiting the chronic electrical stimulation itself (Lewis et al., 2015; McCreery et al., 1988).”

    From End-to-end optimization of prosthetic vision (2022) · cites this paper as Lewis et al., 2015

  • The LGN presents retinotopic organisation and well-defined physical separation of the parvocellular and magnocellular pathways.

    “Third, LGN presents retinotopic organisation and well-defined physical separation of the parvocellular and magnocellular pathways, respectively relaying information about small, slow, colourful things (parvocellular; high spatial frequency information; low temporal frequency information) and large, fast, and colourless things (magnocellular; low spatial frequency; high temporal frequency) [37,80].”
  • Power and communication constraints, as well as power dissipation in the brain, could pose significant challenges.

    “In this context, power and communication constraints, as well as power dissipation in the brain, could pose significant challenges (Sahin and Pikov, 2011; Lewis et al., 2015).”

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Brindley, G.S., Rushton, D.N., 1974. Implanted Stimulators of the visual cortex as visual prosthetic devices. Trans. Am. Acad. Ophthalmol. Otolaryngol. 78, 741-745.
  2. Loomis, J., 2010. Sensory substitution for orientation and mobility: What progress are we making?. In: Wiener, W.R., Welsh, R.L., Blasch, B.B. (Eds.), Foundations of Orientation and Mobility (History and Theory), vol. 1. AFB Press, New York, pp. 7-10. a i n r e s e a r c h 1 5 9 5 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 5 1 -7
  3. Pollen, D.A., 1975. Some perceptual effects of electrical stimulation of the visual cortex in man. In: Tower, D.B. (Ed.), The Nervous System, Vol. 2: The Clinical Neurosciences, vol. 2. Raven Press, New York, pp. 519-528.

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Authors
Lewis, P. M., Ackland, H. M., Lowery, A. J., & Rosenfeld, J. V.
Affiliations
  • The Alfred Hospital (AU)
  • Monash University (AU)
  • Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (US)
Corresponding author
Rosenfeld, Jeffrey V.
Venue
Brain Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015-01
Volume
1595
Pages
51-73
ISSN
0006-8993 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2022449896
Cited by
228
References
254
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 7
FWCI
2.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Brain Research (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Australian Research Council׳s Research in Bionic Vision Science and Technology Initiative (SRI 1000006)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces
Keywords
blindness, neuroprosthetics, retinitis pigmentosa, retinal stimulation, phosphenes, psychophysical testing, electrode implantation, quality of life, rehabilitation, blindness epidemiology
MeSH terms
Bionics, Blindness, Humans, Vision, Ocular, Visual Cortex, Visual Prosthesis

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