A computational model of phosphene appearance for epiretinal prostheses
Open accessAbstract
Retinal neuroprostheses are the only FDA-approved treatment option for blinding degenerative diseases. A major outstanding challenge is to develop a computational model that can accurately predict the elicited visual percepts (phosphenes) across a wide range of electrical stimuli. Here we present a phenomenological model that predicts phosphene appearance as a function of stimulus amplitude, frequency, and pulse duration. The model uses a simulated map of nerve fiber bundles in the retina to produce phosphenes with accurate brightness, size, orientation, and elongation. We validate the model on psychophysical data from two independent studies, showing that it generalizes well to new data, even with different stimuli and on different electrodes. Whereas previous models focused on either spatial or temporal aspects of the elicited phosphenes in isolation, we describe a more comprehensive approach that is able to account for many reported visual effects. The model is designed to be flexible and extensible, and can be fit to data from a specific user. Overall this work is an important first step towards predicting visual outcomes in retinal prosthesis users across a wide range of stimuli.
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Phosphenes tended to appear larger and rounder as stimulus amplitude increased.
“We found that phosphenes tended to appear larger and rounder as stimulus amplitude increased (table 4), which is consistent with previous considerations about the current spread in the retina (de Balthasar et al 2008, Granley and Beyeler 2021, Yücel et al 2022).”
From Axonal stimulation affects the linear summation of single-point perception in three Argus II users (2024) · cites this paper as Granley and Beyeler 2021
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- Authors
- Granley, J., & Beyeler, M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- Corresponding author
- Granley, Jacob
- Beyeler, Michael
- Venue
- 2021 43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC)
- Publisher
- IEEE
- Published
- 2021-11-01
- Volume
- 2021
- Pages
- 4477-4481
- ISSN
- 2375-7477 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9255280
- OpenAlex
- W4230056793
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 19.11
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC) (publishedVersion)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Treatment
- Keywords
- epiretinal prosthesis, retinal prosthesis, visual percepts, phenomenological model, stimulus amplitude, pulse duration, stimulation frequency, visual outcome prediction, retinal degeneration
- MeSH terms
- Computer Simulation, Phosphenes, Retina, Visual Prosthesis
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