The primary goals of this Phase I proposal are (1) to develop a prototype of a novel vision-assisting device that `displays'images from the area of vision loss (derived from a user's scotoma region) on the tongue and (2) to establish the proof of principle that individuals with macular degeneration can use the device to identify letters displayed in their area of vision loss. Macular degeneration is a progressive disease that gradually destroys the central vision, making reading difficult or impossible. This disease affects more than 1.75 million people in the U.S. and frequently lessens the quality of life. Current vision-assisting devices that do not require surgery can exploit only the peripheral vision, which lacks the acuity of central vision. There is a critical, unmet need for a vision-assisting device that can provide a high-resolution image of the environment by augmenting, not obscuring, the user's peripheral vision. The long-term goal is to develop a lightweight, fully portable, wearable, and unobtrusive device that will track with the user's gaze, capture information about the environment from the area of vision loss, and display the information on the tongue. This proposed device will `fill in'the area of vision loss, will be compatible with the user's own corrective eyewear or other vision-assisting devices, will not be surgically invasive, and will be easily customizable and upgradeable. The unique prototype device will be desktop computer-based and will integrate the tongue display component of Wicab's BrainPort-Blind vision technology with a commercially available eye-tracking device. The device will acquire, store, and load the portion of an image displayed on an LCD computer monitor that corresponds to the user's lost area of vision due to macular degeneration and will display that portion of the image on an electrode array held on the tongue. To use printing as an analogy, the proposed array will present an image at 25 dots per inch (DPI) resolution. The integrated eye tracking system will ensure that the partial image displayed on the tongue always correlates with the lost area of vision as the user's eyes scan across the image on the monitor. Study subjects will participate for eight days, will undergo a clinical vision test before and after training/testing on the device, will receive five 2-hour training sessions and will demonstrate skill mastery with a final set of tests using the BrainPort-MD device. This research will include collecting subject feedback regarding the training regimen and the usability of the device throughout the study to assist in refining the device and training methods used. At the end of the study, data from the letter recognition tests will be analyzed.
Macular degeneration progressively destroys a person's central vision. The proposed BrainPort Macular Degeneration Device will track the user's gaze, will capture information about the environment in the area where the user has lost vision, and will 'display'that information on the tongue to augment the vision of individuals with macular degeneration. This proposed device will `fill in'the area of vision loss to help individuals with macular degeneration to perceive more of their surroundings.
