In this paper, the thermal elevation in the human body due to the operation of a dual-unit epiretinal prosthesis to restore partial vision to the blind affected by irreversible retinal degeneration is presented. An accurate computational model of a 60-electrode device dissipating 97 mW power, currently under clinical trials is developed and positioned in a 0.25 mm resolution, heterogeneous model of the human head to resemble actual conditions of operation of the prosthesis. A novel simple finite difference scheme combining the explicit and the alternating-direction implicit (ADI) method has been developed and validated with existing methods. Simulation speed improvement up to 11 times was obtained for the the head model considered in this work with very good accuracy. Using this method, solutions of the bioheat equation were obtained for different placements of the implant. Comparison with in-vivo experimental measurements showed good agreement.
This presentation is a report on the in situ characterization of stimulating microelectrodes in the context of multielectrode retinal prosthetic implants. The experimental system approximately replicates the geometric and electrical parameters of Second Sight Medical Products' Argus II Retinal Implant. Topographic maps of electric potentials have been prepared for a 60 electrode structure in which selected electrodes were stimulated with biphasic repetitively pulsed charge densities at 100 microC·cm(-2). Surface contour maps were prepared using a 10 microm diameter recording electrode.
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