Wearable Glasses for Retinal Pigmentiosa Based on Optogenetics

• Published in: 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS) pp. 1 - 5
• Main Authors: Soltan, Ahmed, Maaskant, Pleun, Armstrong, Niall, Al-Atabany, Walid, Chaudet, Lionel, Neil, Mark, Degenaar, Patrick
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.05.2019
• Subjects: channelrhodopsin-2; headset; high-density μLED matrix; Light emitting diodes; Optical imaging; Optical sensors; Optical variables measurement; regulatory threshold; Retina; Retinitis Pigmentosa; Stimulated emission; Transmission line matrix methods
• ISBN: 9781728103976; 1728103975
• ISSN: 2158-1525; 2158-1525
• DOI: 10.1109/ISCAS.2019.8702759

More than a decade has passed since optics and genetics came together and lead to the emerging technologies of optogenetics. The advent of light-sensitive opsins made it possible to optically trigger the neurons into activation or inhibition by using visible light. In this work we integrated virtual reality optical system with a high radiance high density microdisplay to implement a wearable device for Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) patients. We built system to emulate the human eye and light attenuation while it passes through the eye to the retina. The average light intensity on the surface of the retina after the optical system is 1.35mW/mm 2 which is above the ChR-2 stimulation level (0.7mW/mm 2 ). The number of pixels which give light intensity above the stimulation threshold is 7128 pixel out of 8100 pixel in the microdisplay. The average efficiency of the optical system is 5.75%. So, the proposed wearable device will be able to restore vision for RP patients without the need for invasive implantable device by using optogenetics stimulation.