15-03-2011, 02:05 PM
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INTRODUCTION
The retina is a thin layer of neural tissue that lines the back wall inside the eye. Some of these cells act to receive light, while others interpret the information and send messages to the brain through the optic nerve. This is part of the process that enables us to see. In damaged or dysfunctional retina, the photoreceptors stop working, causing blindness. By some estimates, there are more than 10 million people worldwide affected by retinal diseases that lead to loss of vision.
The absence of effective therapeutic remedies for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has motivated the development of experimental strategies to restore some degree of visual function to affected patients. Because the remaining retinal layers are anatomically spared, several approaches have been designed to artificially activate this residual retina and thereby the visual system.
At present, two general strategies have been pursued. The “Epiretinal” approach involves a semiconductor-based device placed above the retina, close to or in contact with the nerve fiber layer retinal ganglion cells. The information in this approach must be captured by a camera system before transmitting data and energy to the implant. The “Sub retinal” approach involves the electrical stimulation of the inner retina from the sub retinal space by implantation of a semiconductor-based micro photodiode array (MPA) into this location. The concept of the subretinal approach is that electrical charge generated by the MPA in response to a light stimulus may be used to artificially alter the membrane potential of neurons in the remaining retinal layers in a manner to produce formed images.
Some researchers have developed an implant system where a video camera captures images, a chip processes the images, and an electrode array transmits the images to the brain. It’s called Cortical Implants.
VISUAL SYSTEM
The human visual system is remarkable instrument. It features two mobile acquisition units each has formidable preprocessing circuitry placed at a remote location from the central processing system (brain). Its primary task include transmitting images with a viewing angle of at least 140deg and resolution of 1 arc min over a limited capacity carrier, the million or so fibers in each optic nerve through these fibers the signals are passed to the so called higher visual cortex of the brain.
The nerve system can achieve this type of high volume data transfer byconfining such capability to just part of the retina surface, whereas the center of the retina has a 1:1 ration between the photoreceptors and the transmitting elements, the far periphery has aratio of 300:1. This results in gradual shift in resolution and other system parameters.
At the brain’s highest level the visual cortex an impressive array of feature extraction mechanisms can rapidly adjust the eye’s position to sudden movements in the peripherals filed of objects too small to se when stationary. The visual system can resolve spatial depth ifferences by combining signals from both eyes with a precision less than one tenth the size of a single photoreceptor
THE EYE :
The main part in our visual system is the eye. Our ability to see is the result of a process very similar to that of a camera. A camera needs a lens and a film to produce an image. In the same way, the eyeball needs a lens (cornea, crystalline lens, vitreous) to refract, or focus the light and a film (retina) on which to focus the rays. The retina represents the film in our camera. It captures the image and sends it to the brain to be developed.
The macula is the highly sensitive area of the retina. The macula is responsible for our critical focusing vision. It is the part of the retina most used. We use our macula to read or to stare intently at an object. About 130 million photoreceptors in the outermost layer (as seen from the center of the eye) of the transparent retina transform local intensity and color patterns into chemical and electrical signals which trigger activity of the many different retinal
cells: horizontal cells, bipolar cells, amacrine cells, and ganglion cells.
The information is processed by astonishing amounts of serial and parallel pathways by in parts still unknown mechanisms. The information of these 130 million photoreceptors is compressed to the level of 1 million highly specialized GC-fibers. These 1 million fibers in the retina then form the optic nerve and transmit visual information to the visual cortex and its various areas in the back of the brain.
The area of the retina that receives and processes the detailed images—and then sends them via the optic nerve to the brain—is referred to as the macula. The macula is of significant importance in that this area provides the highest resolution for the images we see. The macula is comprised of multiple layers of cells which process the initial “analog” light energy entering the eye into “digital” electro-chemical impulses. The retina is the innermost layer of the wall of the eyeball. Millions of light-sensitive cells there absorb light rays and convert them to electrical signals. The signals are sent through the optic nerve to the brain, where they are interpreted as vision.
RETINA :
Light first enters the optic (or nerve) fiber layer and the ganglion cell layer, under which most of the nourishing blood vessels of the retina are located. This is where the nerves begin, picking up the impulses from the retina and transmitting them to the brain.
The light is received by photoreceptor cells called rods (responsible for peripheral and dim light vision) and cones (providing central, bright light, fine detail, and color vision). The photoreceptors convert light into nerve impulses, which are then processed by the retina and sent through nerve fibers to the brain. The nerve fibers exit the eyeball at the optic disk and reach the brain through the optic nerve. Directly beneath the photoreceptor cells is a single layer of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, which nourish the photoreceptors. These cells are fed by the blood vessels in the choroids.
RETINAL DISEASES :
There are two important types of retinal degenerative disease:
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP), and
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
They are detailed below.
Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is a general term for a number of diseases that predominately affect the photoreceptor layer or “light sensing” cells of the retina. These diseases are usually hereditary and affect individuals earlier in life. Injury to the photoreceptor cell layer, in particular, reduces the retina’s ability to sense an initial light signal. Despite this damage, however, the remainder of the retinal processing cells in other layers usually continues to function.RP affects the mid-peripheral vision first and sometimes progresses to affect the far-periphery and the central areas of vision. The narrowing of the field of vision into “tunnel vision” can sometimes result in complete blindness.
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) refers to a degenerative condition that occurs most frequently in the elderly.AMD is a disease that progressively decreases the function of specific cellular layers of the retina’s macula. The affected areas within the macula are the outer retina and inner retina photoreceptor layer.
Patients with macular degeneration experience a loss of their central vision, which affects their ability to read and perform visually demanding tasks. Although macular degeneration is associated with aging, the exact cause is still unknown.Together, AMD and RP affect at least 30 million people in the world. They are the most common causes of untreatable blindness in developed countries and, currently, there is no effective means of restoring vision.
INTRODUCTION
The retina is a thin layer of neural tissue that lines the back wall inside the eye. Some of these cells act to receive light, while others interpret the information and send messages to the brain through the optic nerve. This is part of the process that enables us to see. In damaged or dysfunctional retina, the photoreceptors stop working, causing blindness. By some estimates, there are more than 10 million people worldwide affected by retinal diseases that lead to loss of vision.
The absence of effective therapeutic remedies for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has motivated the development of experimental strategies to restore some degree of visual function to affected patients. Because the remaining retinal layers are anatomically spared, several approaches have been designed to artificially activate this residual retina and thereby the visual system.
At present, two general strategies have been pursued. The “Epiretinal” approach involves a semiconductor-based device placed above the retina, close to or in contact with the nerve fiber layer retinal ganglion cells. The information in this approach must be captured by a camera system before transmitting data and energy to the implant. The “Sub retinal” approach involves the electrical stimulation of the inner retina from the sub retinal space by implantation of a semiconductor-based micro photodiode array (MPA) into this location. The concept of the subretinal approach is that electrical charge generated by the MPA in response to a light stimulus may be used to artificially alter the membrane potential of neurons in the remaining retinal layers in a manner to produce formed images.
Some researchers have developed an implant system where a video camera captures images, a chip processes the images, and an electrode array transmits the images to the brain. It’s called Cortical Implants.
VISUAL SYSTEM
The human visual system is remarkable instrument. It features two mobile acquisition units each has formidable preprocessing circuitry placed at a remote location from the central processing system (brain). Its primary task include transmitting images with a viewing angle of at least 140deg and resolution of 1 arc min over a limited capacity carrier, the million or so fibers in each optic nerve through these fibers the signals are passed to the so called higher visual cortex of the brain.
The nerve system can achieve this type of high volume data transfer byconfining such capability to just part of the retina surface, whereas the center of the retina has a 1:1 ration between the photoreceptors and the transmitting elements, the far periphery has aratio of 300:1. This results in gradual shift in resolution and other system parameters.
At the brain’s highest level the visual cortex an impressive array of feature extraction mechanisms can rapidly adjust the eye’s position to sudden movements in the peripherals filed of objects too small to se when stationary. The visual system can resolve spatial depth ifferences by combining signals from both eyes with a precision less than one tenth the size of a single photoreceptor
THE EYE :
The main part in our visual system is the eye. Our ability to see is the result of a process very similar to that of a camera. A camera needs a lens and a film to produce an image. In the same way, the eyeball needs a lens (cornea, crystalline lens, vitreous) to refract, or focus the light and a film (retina) on which to focus the rays. The retina represents the film in our camera. It captures the image and sends it to the brain to be developed.
The macula is the highly sensitive area of the retina. The macula is responsible for our critical focusing vision. It is the part of the retina most used. We use our macula to read or to stare intently at an object. About 130 million photoreceptors in the outermost layer (as seen from the center of the eye) of the transparent retina transform local intensity and color patterns into chemical and electrical signals which trigger activity of the many different retinal
cells: horizontal cells, bipolar cells, amacrine cells, and ganglion cells.
The information is processed by astonishing amounts of serial and parallel pathways by in parts still unknown mechanisms. The information of these 130 million photoreceptors is compressed to the level of 1 million highly specialized GC-fibers. These 1 million fibers in the retina then form the optic nerve and transmit visual information to the visual cortex and its various areas in the back of the brain.
The area of the retina that receives and processes the detailed images—and then sends them via the optic nerve to the brain—is referred to as the macula. The macula is of significant importance in that this area provides the highest resolution for the images we see. The macula is comprised of multiple layers of cells which process the initial “analog” light energy entering the eye into “digital” electro-chemical impulses. The retina is the innermost layer of the wall of the eyeball. Millions of light-sensitive cells there absorb light rays and convert them to electrical signals. The signals are sent through the optic nerve to the brain, where they are interpreted as vision.
RETINA :
Light first enters the optic (or nerve) fiber layer and the ganglion cell layer, under which most of the nourishing blood vessels of the retina are located. This is where the nerves begin, picking up the impulses from the retina and transmitting them to the brain.
The light is received by photoreceptor cells called rods (responsible for peripheral and dim light vision) and cones (providing central, bright light, fine detail, and color vision). The photoreceptors convert light into nerve impulses, which are then processed by the retina and sent through nerve fibers to the brain. The nerve fibers exit the eyeball at the optic disk and reach the brain through the optic nerve. Directly beneath the photoreceptor cells is a single layer of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, which nourish the photoreceptors. These cells are fed by the blood vessels in the choroids.
RETINAL DISEASES :
There are two important types of retinal degenerative disease:
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP), and
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
They are detailed below.
Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is a general term for a number of diseases that predominately affect the photoreceptor layer or “light sensing” cells of the retina. These diseases are usually hereditary and affect individuals earlier in life. Injury to the photoreceptor cell layer, in particular, reduces the retina’s ability to sense an initial light signal. Despite this damage, however, the remainder of the retinal processing cells in other layers usually continues to function.RP affects the mid-peripheral vision first and sometimes progresses to affect the far-periphery and the central areas of vision. The narrowing of the field of vision into “tunnel vision” can sometimes result in complete blindness.
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) refers to a degenerative condition that occurs most frequently in the elderly.AMD is a disease that progressively decreases the function of specific cellular layers of the retina’s macula. The affected areas within the macula are the outer retina and inner retina photoreceptor layer.
Patients with macular degeneration experience a loss of their central vision, which affects their ability to read and perform visually demanding tasks. Although macular degeneration is associated with aging, the exact cause is still unknown.Together, AMD and RP affect at least 30 million people in the world. They are the most common causes of untreatable blindness in developed countries and, currently, there is no effective means of restoring vision.
