The fundamental goal of this research project is to investigate the feasibility of an ultra compact optical imaging system for a miniature camera designed for surgical implantation into the human eye, with capability to couple directly to a pixellated microstimulator array that is proximity-coupled to the retinal surface. The development of such an intraocular camera (IOC) would eliminate the need for an external head-mounted or eyeglass-mounted camera, as well as the need to transmit video streams into the eye cavity from an external device. The capability for accommodation with no moving parts or feedback control will be incorporated by employing camera designs that exhibit nearly infinite depth of field. Such an ultra compact optical imaging system will require a unique combination of high performance refractive and diffractive optical elements (including novel stratified volume diffractive optical elements) and relaxed system constraints derived from human psychophysics. A further goal is to assess the fundamental and technological limitations to camera miniaturization, driven by the constraints provided by the number, density, and placement of the microelectrodes within the microstimulator array. Psychophysical evaluation of the recognition of both static and dynamic (motion) images at low pixellation levels will be undertaken to provide key constraints for the design of the proposed intraocular camera (IOC) optics.
