Agenda

Presentation Prof. E.J. Chichilnisky (Princeton-Stanford)

• Tuesday, 7 June 2022
• 16:00-17:00
• EEMCS, B36, lecture hall Chip

Toward a High-fidelity Artificial Retina

Toward a High-fidelity Artificial Retina

Electronic interfaces to the retina represent an exciting development in science, engineering, and medicine – an opportunity to exploit our knowledge of neural circuitry and function to restore or even enhance vision. However, although existing devices demonstrate proof of principle in treating blindness, they produce limited visual function. Some of the reasons for this can be understood based on the precise and specific neural circuitry that mediates visual signaling in the retina. Consideration of this circuitry suggests that future devices may need to operate at single-cell, single-spike resolution in order to subserve naturalistic visual function. I will show large-scale multi-electrode recording and stimulation data from the macaque and human retina indicating that, in some cases, such resolution is possible. I will also discuss cases in which it fails, and propose that we can improve artificial vision in such conditions by incorporating our knowledge of the visual system in bi-directional devices that adapt to the host neural circuitry. Finally, I will introduce the Stanford Artificial Retina Project, aimed at developing a retinal implant that more faithfully reproduces the neural code of the retina, and briefly discuss the implications for scientific investigation and for other neural interfaces of the future.

Bio: Prof. E.J. Chichilnisky trained in mathematics and neuroscience at Princeton and Stanford Universities, and began his independent research career at the Salk Institute. He joined the faculty at Stanford in 2013 where he is the John R. Adler Professor of Neurosurgery, and Professor of Ophthalmology. The goal of his research is to understand how the neural circuitry of the retina encodes visual information, and to use this knowledge in the development of artificial retinas for treating incurable blindness. His lab now focuses on the mission of the Artificial Retina Project.