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Oculomotor Responses to Dynamic Stimuli in a 44-Channel Suprachoroidal Retinal Prosthesis
Samuel A Titchener1,2, Jessica Kvansakul1,2, Mohit N Shivdasani3,1
1Bionics Institute, East Melbourne, Australia.
Translational Vision Science & Technology
|January 1, 2021
Summary
Retinal implant recipients demonstrated naturalistic eye movements, including smooth pursuit, in response to visual motion stimuli. This suggests preserved cortical function and potential for improved visual prosthetics.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Ophthalmology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Retinal implants aim to restore vision in patients with retinal degenerative diseases.
- Understanding oculomotor responses to visual stimuli is crucial for evaluating implant efficacy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate oculomotor behavior in response to dynamic visual stimuli in individuals with retinal implants.
- To assess the impact of different visual processing conditions on eye movements.
Main Methods:
- Three participants with suprachoroidal retinal implants performed a motion discrimination task.
- Stimuli included moving bars and gratings presented with normal and scrambled video processing.
- Eye and head movements were monitored longitudinally.
Main Results:
- Two participants exhibited smooth pursuit eye movements congruent with stimulus direction, indicating retinotopic discrimination.
- These participants also showed aberrant optokinetic reflex (OKR) responses to moving gratings.
- A third participant relied on head movements and showed no retinotopic discrimination.
Conclusions:
- Smooth pursuit eye movements suggest preserved cortical direction-selective circuits and a more naturalistic motion perception.
- Distorted OKR responses may indicate impaired retinal direction-selective circuits due to retinal remodeling or stimulation characteristics.
- Retinal implant users can generate naturalistic eye movements, offering potential for enhanced visual prosthetics.
