# Computing Luminance and Contrast in Prosthetically Driven Retina

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2021 · $376,360

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Blindness caused by photoreceptor death, such as in Retinitis Pigmentosa and Macular
Degeneration, is among the leading causes of irreversible blindness in the world today. Electrical
stimulation of spared retinal circuitry by retinal prosthetic devices holds promise for restoring vision, but
results so far have been modest at best. Our understanding of how electrical stimulation engages the
remaining retinal circuitry to perform basic visual computation is poor. To design more effective retinal
prosthetic devices, we need to better understand how prosthetic stimulation activates the diseased
retinal circuitry.
 Two major challenges to studying how sub-retina stimulation activates retinal circuitry are: 1) the
lack of techniques to measure electrical activation of bipolar cells, and 2) an incomplete understanding of
how retinal degeneration changes visual processing circuits. Here we use a new approach. By
recording synaptic output of bipolar cells ex vivo, we can directly readout relevant bipolar cell activity,
which is the first stage in sub-retinal prosthetic stimulation. By using a new retinal prosthetic technology,
the nanowire detector array, to mimic light input to bipolar cells with high temporal and spatial precision,
we can determine how basic computations such as contrast are altered during degeneration.
 The results from this proposal will be significant and will: 1.) Determine optimal stimulation
strategies to restore vision with prosthetics 2.) Uncover basic physiological mechanisms that determine
how spared retina responds to electrical stimulation, and 3.) Determine how prosthetics can engage
basic computational circuitry in diseased retina to extract temporal contrast information from spatio-
temporal patterns of electrical stimulation. These experiments will produce needed insight on the
fundamental mechanisms underlying early visual computation and guide strategies to improve the design
and execution of retinal prosthetic devices. The long-term goal of this work is to improve the design of
retinal prosthetics for vision restoration, ultimately improving the quality of life for a broad patient
population.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10200066
- **Project number:** 5R01EY029259-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Nicholas Oesch
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $376,360
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-30 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10200066

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10200066, Computing Luminance and Contrast in Prosthetically Driven Retina (5R01EY029259-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10200066. Licensed CC0.

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