The Development of Artificial Vision

This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss.

Today’s big idea is all about the cutting edge advancements in ocular bionic prosthetics. The Argus II is a device that uses a camera and a chip to stimulate the retina and send signals to the brain. Our guest, Dr. Mark Humayun, developer of the Argus II, speaks with Dr. Roberts about the development of this device, and the importance of the collaboration between developers and early adopters. He talks about the engineering, neurophysiology, and surgical challenges they’ve overcome to get to where they are, as well as what kind of advancements might be possible in the future.

The Big Takeaways:

• The Argus II is a device with two components: a wearable component that consists of glasses with a camera and video processing unit and an implanted device that includes an antenna and an electronic chip that sends electrodes to stimulate the remaining cells of the retina.
• The visual system is similar to a computer in that it requires hardware (our eyes, retina, optic nerve, visual cortex) and software (converts signals to what we describe as sight). When developing artificial vision, Dr. Humayun had to pinpoint how much of the retina needed to be replaced, as well as how much of the retina needed to still exist for the device to work.
• The electronic system stimulates groups of neurons into visual perceptions. Users of the Argus II can currently perceive up to 10 shades of gray. Dr. Humayun and his team are working on getting the device to generate color vision by stimulating the retina at different frequencies, which the wearer learns to associate with a named color.
• The cochlear implant was a big influence on the initial development of Argus II — they reconfigured a cochlear implant and used it to stimulate the retina rather than the cochlea. As they reconfigure and continue to develop the device, the collaboration between actual users and developers is crucial.
• Now that they have the hardware and technology, they can focus on future developments like an implant that bypasses the optic nerve and sends electrodes directly to the visual cortex.

Tweetables:

• “I’ve been so lucky my whole adult life to have that collaborative experience with everyone who’s ever built legs for me.” — Aimee Mullins, actor, athlete, public speaker, and double amputee
• “The most emotional thing for me was being able to see letters again. That was such an emotional experience, I don’t know how to put it into words.” — Barbara Campbell, Argus II implant recipient
• “You can think of it like this, that it wirelessly connects the blind person to a camera, and jumpstarts the otherwise blind eye and sends the information to the brain.” — Dr. Mark Humayun
• “There are some features that are different than our human eye, there are some advantages, but clearly our human eye is incredibly, exquisitely engineered to give you a very pristine, refined, and high-resolution image.” — Dr. Mark Humayun

Contact Us:

• Contact us at podcasts@lighthouseguild.org with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.

Pertinent Links:

• Lighthouse Guild
• Argus II

Guest Bio:

Dr. Mark Humayun

• Mark S. Humayun, MD, PhD, is Director, USC Ginsburg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics and Co-Director, USC Roski Eye Institute. Dr. Humayan received his Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University in 1984, his Master's Doctorate from Duke University in 1989, and his PhD from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1994. He completed his ophthalmology residency at Duke Eye C