Towards Realistic Computer Simulations for Cortical Prosthetic Vision

Cortical prosthetic vision restores sight by stimulating surviving neurons in the visual cortex to evoke bright dots in the visual field — phosphenes. However, several challenges remain, including irregular phosphene distributions, individual variability, and limited phosphene numbers. To address these, I developed a novel simulation paradigm using MRI-based phosphene mapping, proposed a dynamic stimulation protocol, and evaluated task-based simulated vision. My findings highlight the importance of personalized mapping, dynamic simulation, and incorporating eye and head movements in diverse psychophysics tasks. Despite challenges, this research underscores the potential of cortical prosthetic vision toward restoring functional vision.