Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Oct;45(10):1141-1154.
doi: 10.1111/aor.14022. Epub 2021 Jul 27.

The application of computer vision to visual prosthesis

Jing Wang  1   2 , Haiyi Zhu  1 , Jianyun Liu  1 , Heng Li  3 , Yanling Han  1 , Ruyan Zhou  1 , Yun Zhang  1   2
Affiliations
Review

The application of computer vision to visual prosthesis

Jing Wang et al. Artif Organs. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

A visual prosthesis is an auxiliary device for patients with blinding diseases that cannot be treated with conventional surgery or drugs. It converts captured images into corresponding electrical stimulation patterns, according to which phosphenes are generated through the action of internal electrodes on the visual pathway to form visual perception. However, due to some restrictions such as the few implantable electrodes that the biological tissue can accommodate, the induced perception is far from ideal. Therefore, an important issue in visual prosthesis research is how to detect and present useful information in low-resolution prosthetic vision to improve the visual function of the wearer. In recent years, with the development and broad application of computer vision methods, researchers have investigated the possibility of their utilization in visual prostheses by simulating prosthetic visual percepts. Through the optimization of visual perception by image processing, the efficiency of visual prosthesis devices can be further improved to better meet the needs of prosthesis wearers. In this article, recent works on prosthetic vision centering on implementing computer vision methods are reviewed. Differences, strengths, and weaknesses of the mentioned methods are discussed. The development directions of optimizing prosthetic vision and improving methods of visual perception are analyzed.

Keywords: computer vision; image processing; machine learning; simulated prosthetic vision; visual prosthesis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

REFERENCES

    1. World Health Organization. WHO launches first World report on vision; c2020. Available from. https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/08-10-2019-who-launches-first-world...
    1. Buchs G, Heimler B, Kerem M, Maidenbaum S, Braun L, Amedi A. Virtual self-training of a sensory substitution device for blind individuals. In: 2019 International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation (ICVR). Tel Aviv, Israel: IEEE; 2019. 1-2.
    1. Barnes N. The role of computer vision in prosthetic vision. Image Vis Comput. 2012;30:478-9.
    1. Yan Y, Chai XY, Chen Y, Zhou CQ, Ren QS, Li LM. Research progress of visual prosthesis. Sheng Li Xue Bao. 2016 Oct 25;68:628-36. Chinese.
    1. Beauchamp MS, Oswalt D, Sun P, Foster BL, Magnotti JF, Niketeghad S, et al. Dynamic stimulation of visual cortex produces form vision in sighted and blind humans. Cell. 2020;181:774-83.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.033

LinkOut - more resources

-