Minimizing activation of overlying axons with epiretinal stimulation: The role of fiber orientation and electrode configuration

TB Esler; RR Kerr; B Tahayori; DB Grayden; H Meffin; AN Burkitt

Journal article

Minimizing activation of overlying axons with epiretinal stimulation: The role of fiber orientation and electrode configuration

TB Esler, RR Kerr, B Tahayori, DB Grayden, H Meffin, AN Burkitt

Plos One | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2018

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193598

Download PDF

Abstract

Currently, a challenge in electrical stimulation of the retina with a visual prosthesis (bionic eye) is to excite only the cells lying directly under the electrode in the ganglion cell layer, while avoiding excitation of axon bundles that pass over the surface of the retina in the nerve fiber layer. Stimulation of overlying axons results in irregular visual percepts, limiting perceptual efficacy. This research explores how differences in fiber orientation between the nerve fiber layer and ganglion cell layer leads to differences in the electrical activation of the axon initial segment and axons of passage. Approach. Axons of passage of retinal ganglion cells in the nerve fiber layer are char..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Bahman Tahayori Author

David Grayden Author

Hamish Meffin Author

Anthony Burkitt Author

Related Projects (3)

ARC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR INTEGRATIVE BRAIN FUNCTION

Neural Activity Shaping for Retinal and Cochlear Implants

This project aims to develop methods to control and optimise the spatial patterns of neural activity evoked by neural prostheses in order to..

NEURO-FEEDBACK FOR IMPROVED EFFICACY OF RETINAL PROSTHESES

Bionic eyes offer the possibility to return sight to the blind. Existing retinal implants are effective at delivering basic visual percepts,..

Grants

Awarded by Governo Brasil

Funding Acknowledgements

TE was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award from the Australian Government and The University of Melbourne, and the Gowrie Scholarship Fund of the Australian National University. TE and RRK acknowledge the support of IBM Research, Melbourne. IBM Research, Melbourne provided support in the form of a salary for RRK and an internship for TE for part of the period during which this research was completed, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the 'author contributions' section. HM acknowledges funding from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function (project number CE140100007). ANB acknowledges the support of the Australian Research Council's Discovery Projects funding scheme (project number DP140104533). DBG, HM and ANB acknowledge the support of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council's Project Grant funding scheme (NHMRC Grant APP1106390). This research was supported by Melbourne Bioinformatics on its Peak Computing Facility at The University of Melbourne (grant number VR0138).