Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
In.this.chapter,.visual.prosthesis.(a.biological.implant.device.that.restores.vision.in.blind.
patients).is.used.as.an.example.to.illustrate.the.design,.analysis,.and.realization.of.neural.
prosthesis,.which.is.based.on.electrical.stimulation.of.neurons/tissues.through.an.array.
of.electrodes.powered.by.integrated.microelectronics..The.rest.of.the.chapter.is.organized.
as. follows.. Section. 16.2. provides. a. list. of. neural. prostheses. and. their. common. system.
characteristics.. Section. 16.3. gives. an. overview. of. visual. prosthesis.. Section. 16.4. lists. the.
challenges.in.realizing.a.high-density.retinal.implant.and.describes.the.fundamentals.of.
neural.stimulation..Section.16.5.describes.power.and.data.telemetry..Section.16.6.presents.
an.electrical.retinal.stimulator.using.a.mixed-voltage.process..Section.16.7.shows.the.char-
acterization.and.measured.results.of.this.particular.design..Section.16.8.presents.a.bench-
top.testing.apparatus.and.measurement.results.of.an.epiretinat.chip.
16.2 NeuralProsthesisSystemCharacteristics
Brain/neural-related.illnesses.affect.a.large.population.of.people.worldwide.and.create.an.
economic.burden.and.opportunity.on.the.order.of.trillions.of.dollars..In.an.aging.society,.
this.burden.gets.worse.and.consumes.a.signiicant.portion.of.the.GDP..Consequently,.gov-
ernments,. private. foundations,. and. industrial. companies. have. invested. a. large. amount.
of.funding.to.support.relevant.research.and.development.to.deal.with.the.cure.and.treat-
ment.of.brain/neural-related.illnesses..Many.neural.disorder.diseases.cannot.be.cured.by.
current.medicine;.however,.treatment.using.neural.prosthetic.devices.to.subside.or.reduce.
symptom.is.possible..Neural.prosthesis.in.general.has.the.beneits.of.treatment.of.neural.
disorders,. repair/restoration. of. the. lost. biological. systems,. and. enhancement. of. the. bio-
logical. system. performance.. The. most. prominent. examples. include. cochlear. implant,
6-8
.
retinal.implant,
9-22
.and.Parkinson's.implant.
23-25
.Other.candidates.include.the.following:
•. Vision
•. Blindness—retinal.prosthetics
•. Denervated.eyelid.(Bell's.palsy)
•. Presbyopia—lens.implantation.for.50+
•. Neural.disorders.and.deep.brain.stimulation
•. Epilepsy,.Parkinson's,.Compulsory.Disorders,.Alzheimer's
•. Prostate.cancer.and.impotence
•. Stroke.and.dementia
•. Spinal.cord.injury—stand.and.walk,.bladder.control
•. Pain.relief—invasive.or.noninvasive.devices
•. Antidepression
•. Obesity
•. Diabetes—implantable.drug.pumps
•. Heart.disease
•. Intelligent.artiicial.upper.or.lower.limbs
•. Deaf—cochlear.implant
•. Musculoskeletal—orthopedic.implants.for.osteoarthritis
