Abstract
The Boston Retinal Implant Project has developed a subretinal, hermetically-enclosed, chronically-implantable vision prosthesis to restore some useful vision to people with degenerative retinal diseases, especially retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. Our implant attaches to the outside of the eye, with only the electrode array entering the eye, carrying over 256 independently-configurable retinal stimulation channels. Our device receives wireless power and data from an inductive link, and inbound data includes image information in the form of stimulation commands containing current amplitudes and pulse widths. Outbound data includes status information on the implant and measurements of electrode voltages. A custom-designed integrated circuit chip is packaged in an 11 mm-diameter titanium case with a ceramic feedthrough, attached to the side of the eye. The chip decodes the stimulation data, creates biphasic, charged-balanced current pulses, and monitors the resulting voltages on the stimulating electrodes. The electrode array is a thin, flexible, microfabricated film carrying hundreds of wires to exposed electrodes in the eye. The electrodes are coated with sputtered iridium oxide film to allow much greater charge transfer per unit area by means of reversible faradaic reactions. The Boston Retinal Implant is being manufactured and tested in pre-clinical trials for safety, with plans to begin clinical trials soon.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Rizzo JF, Wyatt JL, Humayun M, deJuan E, Liu W, Chow A, Eckmiller R, Zrenner E, Yagi T, Abrams G. Retinal prosthesis: an encouraging first decade with major challenges ahead. Ophthalmology. 2001;108(1):13–4.
Humayun M, Propst R, de Juan E, McCormick K, Hickingbotham D. Bipolar surface electrical stimulation of the vertebrate retina. Arch Ophthalmol. 1994;112:110–6.
Rizzo JF, Wyatt JL, Loewenstein J, Kelly SK, Shire DB. Methods and perceptual thresholds for short-term electrical stimulation of human retina with microelectrode arrays. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2003;44(12):5355–61.
Rizzo JF, Wyatt JL, Loewenstein J, Kelly SK, Shire DB. Perceptual efficacy of electrical stimulation of human retina with a microelectrode array during short-term surgical trials. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2003;44(12):5362–9.
Shire DB, Kelly SK, Chen J, Doyle P, Gingerich MD, Cogan SF, Drohan WA, Mendoza O, Theogarajan L, Wyatt JL, Rizzo JF. Development and implantation of a minimally invasive wireless subretinal neurostimulator. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2009;56(10):2502–11.
Kelly SK, Shire DB, Chen J, Doyle P, Gingerich MD, Cogan SF, Drohan WA, Behan S, Theogarajan L, Wyatt JL, Rizzo JF. A hermetic wireless subretinal neurostimulator for vision prostheses. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2011;58(11):3197–205.
Shire DB, Ellersick W, Kelly SK, Doyle P, Priplata A, Drohan W, Mendoza O, Gingerich M, McKee B, Wyatt JL, Rizzo JF. ASIC design and data communications for the Boston retinal prosthesis. Transactions of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference. 2012. p. 292–5.
Kelly SK, Shire DB, Chen J, Gingerich MD, Cogan SF, Drohan WA, Ellersick W, Krishnan A, Behan S, Wyatt JL, Rizzo JF. Developments on the Boston 256-channel retinal implant. Proceedings of the International Conference on Multimedia and Expo. 2013. p. 6.
Merrill DR, Bikson M, Jeffreys JG. Electrical stimulation of excitable tissue: design of efficacious and safe protocols. J Neurosci Methods. 2005;141(2):171–98.
Cogan SF. Neural stimulating and recording electrodes. Annu Rev Biomed Eng. 2008;10:275–309.
Kelly SK, Ellersick W, Krishnan A, Doyle P, Shire DB, Wyatt JL, Rizzo JF. Redundant safety features in a high-channel-count retinal neurostimulator. Transactions of IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference. 2014. p. 216–9.
Klein JD, Clauson SL, Cogan SF. Reactive IrO2 sputtering in reducing/oxidizing atmospheres. J Mat Res. 1995;10:328–33.
Cogan SF, Ehrlich J, Plante TD, Smirnov A, Shire DB, Gingerich MD, Rizzo JF. Sputtered iridium oxide films (SIROFs) for neural stimulation electrodes. J Biomed Mat Res B Appl Biomat. 2009;89(2):353–61.
Mokwa W, Wessling B, Schnakenberg U. Sputtered Ir films evaluated for electrochemical perormance I. Experimental results. J Electrochem Soc. 2008;155:F61–5.
Jiang G, Zhou D. Technology advances and challenges in hermetic packaging for implantable medical devices. In: Implantable neural prostheses 2: techniques and engineering approaches. New York: Springer; 2010.
Shire DB, Salzer T, Jones W, Karbasi A, Behan S, Drohan WA, Mendoza O, Chen J, Wyatt JL, Rizzo JF. Hermetic sealing and packaging technology for the Boston retinal prosthesis. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012;53:5523.
Kelly SK, Wyatt JL. Power-efficient neural tissue stimulator with energy recovery. IEEE Trans Biomed Cir Sys. 2011;5(1):20–9.
Krishnan, Kelly SK. On the cause and control of residual voltage generated by electrical stimulation of neural tissue. Proceedings of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference. 2012. p. 3899–902.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kelly, S.K., Rizzo, J. (2017). The Boston Retinal Implant. In: Gabel, V. (eds) Artificial Vision. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41876-6_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41876-6_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-41874-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-41876-6
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)