Brain/machine interfaces, or neural prostheses, are designed to compensate for disabilities or neurodegenerative processes. These are implanted devices that use electrodes to activate areas of the central nervous system. For example, hearing aids enable deaf patients to follow a telephone conversation, while high-frequency stimulation suppresses involuntary movements in Parkinson's disease. These successes have led to the development of visual prostheses to restore useful vision in patients who have gone blind. The visual system can be targeted at different levels, depending on the pathologies that led to blindness. Clinical results indicate that the visual system of blind patients is still functional, and that these patients can regain some visual perception. However, the notion of image implies the perception of a large number of pixels (at least 600) to achieve visual functions such as face recognition, autonomous locomotion in foreign environments and text reading. The production of all these pixels relies on stimulation by as many or more electrodes. After an overview of current technologies, the presentation will look at innovative new technologies being developed in this field to increase device resolution.
11:30 - 12:30
