JP2008086434A - Vision recovery assisting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suitably recover the vision of a patient independent of the installation state of an electrode array. <P>SOLUTION: The vision recovery assisting apparatus comprises: an imaging means for acquiring an external world image; the electrode array for which electrodes that respectively output electric stimulation pulses for stipulating cells constituting the retina are arranged; a stimulation pattern generation means for generating a stimulation pattern composed of the electric stimulation pulses outputted from the respective electrodes in order to perceive the external world image; and an electric stimulation pulse output means for making the electric stimulation pulses be outputted from the respective electrodes in order to form the stimulation pattern. The vision recovery assisting apparatus is provided with an image processing means for image-processing the external world image in the imaging means and rotating it by a prescribed angle unit within 90 degrees and a rotating mechanism for rotating an imaging device centering on the photographing optical axis of the imaging means in an angle range not exceeding the prescribed angle unit for rotating the external world image. The stimulation pattern generation means generates the electric stimulation pulses on the basis of the image-processed and rotated external world image by the image processing means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a visual reproduction assisting device for reproducing the vision of a patient.

In recent years, as one of the methods for treating blindness, a device having a large number of electrodes is implanted in the eye and the like, and a pulsed stimulation current is output from the electrodes to stimulate the cells constituting the retina. Research has been conducted on a visual reproduction assist device that substitutes a part of the visual function. Such a visual reproduction assisting device is installed in the eye and includes an internal device having an electrode for stimulating cells constituting the retina and a camera, a processing circuit, etc. outside the body, and is visually It is roughly classified into an external device that sends a stimulation pattern or the like obtained by processing an external image that is a basis of stimulation for reproducing the image. In such a visual reproduction auxiliary device, a plurality of electrodes are prepared and arranged on the substrate of the in-vivo device in a specific pattern such as an array. The stimulation pattern of the electrical stimulation pulse corresponding to the external image acquired by the camera from these electrodes is output (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-34427 A

  In such a visual reproduction assisting device, the installation state (position, installation angle, etc.) of the in-vivo device is not always the same depending on the state of each patient's eye, the surgical technique, and the like. As a result, since the installation state (direction) of the electrode array is different, the acquired external image may be perceived as being tilted according to the installation angle of the electrode array. For example, when a normal electrode array is installed in a vertical direction depending on the condition of the patient's eyes or the convenience of surgery, the image acquired by the camera may be perceived by the patient in a rotated state of 90 degrees. Occur.

  In view of the above-described problems of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a visual reproduction assisting device that suitably reproduces the patient's vision regardless of the installation state of the electrode array.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is characterized by having the following configuration.
(1) An imaging unit having an imaging device for acquiring an external image, an electrode array in which a plurality of electrodes for outputting electrical stimulation pulses for stimulating cells constituting a retina of a patient are two-dimensionally arranged, and the imaging unit In order to perceive an external image acquired by the above, a stimulation pattern generation means for generating a stimulation pattern composed of electrical stimulation pulses output from each electrode, and the stimulation pattern generated by the stimulation pattern generation means are formed And an electrical stimulation pulse output means for outputting an electrical stimulation pulse from each electrode in order to perform the image processing of the external image obtained by the imaging means within a predetermined range of 90 degrees or less. Image processing means for rotating the image by the angle unit, and the angle range not exceeding the predetermined angle unit for rotating the external image by the image processing means. A rotation mechanism that rotates the imaging element about the imaging optical axis of the imaging unit, and the stimulation pattern generation unit is configured to perform the electrical stimulation on the basis of the external image that has been image-processed by the image processing unit It is characterized by generating a pulse.
(2) In the visual reproduction assistance device of (1), the predetermined angle unit is 45 degrees or 90 degrees.
(3) The visual reproduction assisting device according to (1) or (2) includes a rotation angle designating unit that inputs a designation signal for rotating the external image by a predetermined angle by the image processing unit. .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a patient's vision can be reproduced | regenerated suitably irrespective of the installation state of an electrode array.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an external appearance of a visual reproduction assisting device, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an in-vivo device in the visual reproduction assisting device used in the embodiment.

  Reference numeral 1 denotes a visual reproduction assisting device, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, from an extracorporeal device 10 for photographing the outside world and an in-vivo device 20 that applies electrical stimulation to cells constituting the retina and promotes visual reproduction. Become. The extracorporeal device 10 includes a visor 11 on which a patient is placed, an imaging device 12 serving as an imaging unit attached to the visor 11, an external device 13, a transmission unit 14 including a primary coil, and the like.

  The imaging device (imaging means) 12 has a camera 12a composed of an image sensor such as a CCD, and a camera 12a fixed to the camera 12a. The camera 12a can rotate with the camera 12a within a predetermined angle (45 degrees in this embodiment). It consists of a base 12b (does not exceed a predetermined angle). The imaging device 12 acquires an external image (image, external image) two-dimensionally and sends it to a control unit 13a described later. The rotation base 12b has a rotation mechanism that can rotate within a range of 45 degrees in the arrow direction shown in FIG. Therefore, by rotating the rotation base 12b, the camera 12a is also rotated, and the image sensor in the camera 12a is also rotated within a range of 45 degrees around the photographing optical axis. Therefore, the external image acquired by the camera 12a by the rotation of the rotation base 12b is also rotated within a range of 45 degrees, and the rotated external image is sent to the control unit 13a.

  The external device 13 includes a control unit 13a having an arithmetic processing circuit such as a CPU, a battery 13b for supplying power to the visual reproduction assisting device 1 (external device 10 and internal device 20), and an external environment perceived by a patient described later. An angle adjustment unit 13c for adjusting the rotation angle of the image is provided. The control unit 13a performs a process of subjecting a subject image (outside image) obtained by photographing with the photographing device 12 and further converting it into electrical stimulation pulse data for reproducing vision.

  The transmission means 14 can transmit (wireless transmission) the electrical stimulation pulse data converted by the control unit 13a and the power for driving the in-vivo device 20 described later to the in-vivo device 20 side as electromagnetic waves. A magnet 15 is attached to the center of the transmission means 14. The magnet 15 is used for improving the data transmission efficiency of the transmission unit 14 and fixing the position with the reception unit 23 described later. The angle adjustment unit (rotation angle designation means) 13c includes an angle change switch, and is a unit for instructing the control unit 13a to perform image processing control for rotating the external image by a predetermined angle. In the present embodiment, the external image is rotated in units of 45 degrees by using an angle change switch. Based on the command signal from the angle adjustment unit 13c, the control unit 13a performs rotation conversion of an external image described later.

  The visor 11 has an eyeglass shape, and can be used by being worn in front of the patient's eyes as shown in FIG. The photographing device 12 is attached to the front face of the visor 11 and can photograph a subject to be perceived by a patient.

  The intracorporeal device 20 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B is roughly divided into a receiving unit 30 and a stimulating unit 40. The receiving unit 30 includes a receiving unit 23 including a secondary coil that receives an electromagnetic wave from the extracorporeal device 10, an electrical stimulation pulse from the electromagnetic stimulation pulse data received by the receiving unit 23 and an electromagnetic wave including electric power, The control unit 25 extracts a multiplexer control signal (hereinafter abbreviated as a control signal) for distributing electrical stimulation pulses to the electrodes and power. The stimulation unit 40 includes a plurality of electrodes 27a constituting the electrode array 27, a substrate 21 on which the electrode array 27 is formed, a multiplexer 24 that distributes the electrical stimulation pulse transmitted from the reception unit 30 to each electrode 27a, and the like. Has been. The receiving unit 30 and the stimulating unit 40 are connected by a cable 22. An indifferent electrode 26 is connected to the control unit 25 of the receiving unit 30. Note that a magnet (not shown) is disposed in the receiving means 23 and is used for fixing the magnet 15 of the external device 10.

  A multiplexer (electrical stimulation pulse output means) 24 constituted by a semiconductor integrated circuit is installed on the substrate 21, and is connected to the control unit 25 via the cable 22, and each electrode 27 a is a lead wire wired on the substrate 21. Based on the electrical stimulation pulse, the control signal, and the electric power that are electrically connected at 21 a and sent from the control unit 25, the electrical stimulation pulse (stimulation current) that stimulates the cells constituting the retina is transmitted to each electrode 27 a of the electrode array 27. It plays the role of distributing to (outputting electrical stimulation pulses).

  The substrate 21 has a base portion made of a resin having high biocompatibility such as polyimide and processed into a long plate shape that can be bent at a predetermined thickness, and a plurality of lead wires 21a are formed thereon (three-dimensional wiring if necessary). ). The wiring of the substrate 21 is formed by depositing a corrosion-resistant metal material on the base portion using a well-known photoresist method, vacuum deposition method, sputtering method or the like.

  In the electrode array 27, as shown in FIG. 2A, each electrode 27 a is formed in a predetermined two-dimensional pattern along the longitudinal direction of the substrate 21. Here, in the electrode array 27 in the present embodiment, each electrode 27a is formed in a 10 × 10 matrix. Such an electrode array 27 is determined according to the resolution at the time of visual reproduction, but is formed with about ten to several hundreds. Further, the pattern of the electrode array 27 is not limited to a matrix, and may be a circle or a honeycomb. If there is no problem in the installation space of the electrode 27a, the wiring technology, etc., there may be more than that. As described above, the electrode 27a formed on the substrate 21 is made of a conductive material having excellent biocompatibility and corrosion resistance, such as gold and platinum, and each lead wire 21a formed on the substrate 21. Formed at the ends of each.

  The control unit 25 is a circuit that separates electric stimulation pulse data and electric power contained in the electromagnetic wave received by the receiving means 23, and an electric stimulation pulse and a multiplexer control signal for obtaining vision based on the electric stimulation pulse data. And a semiconductor integrated circuit (LSI) having several control circuits such as an electrical circuit for sending the converted electrical stimulation pulse and control signal to the multiplexer 24. The control unit 25 having such a configuration converts the electrical stimulation pulse data for forming the stimulation pattern, and sends the electrical stimulation pulse and the control signal generated by the conversion process to the multiplexer 24. Receiving the electrical stimulation pulse and the control signal, the multiplexer 24 sends (distributes) the electrical stimulation pulse for stimulating the cells constituting the retina to each electrode 27a in accordance with the control signal. The multiple electrodes 27 a are independently connected to the multiplexer 24 by a plurality of lead wires 21 a formed on the substrate 21. The multiplexer 24 receives power from the control unit 25 and uses it.

  The cable 22 is covered with a highly biocompatible material (not shown) having an insulating property, and is used to electrically connect the control unit 25 and the multiplexer 24.

  Although illustration is omitted, the entire in-vivo device 20 excluding a portion to be energized such as the tip of the electrode array 27 and the indifferent electrode 26 is made of a highly biocompatible resin (silicone, parylene, highly biocompatible polyimide, etc.). Embed. By embedding with resin, the multiplexer 24, the control part 25, etc. reduce that it contacts a biological body directly.

  Next, installation of the in-vivo device 20 (reception unit 30 and stimulation unit 40) in the body will be described. The visual reproduction device according to the present embodiment described above is arranged on the substrate 21 of the stimulation unit 40 so that the electrodes can be installed at positions where the cells constituting the retina of the patient's eye can be suitably stimulated. The installation positions of the multiplexer 24 and the electrode array 27 are considered. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the stimulation unit 40 is installed on the choroid E2 to stimulate the cells constituting the retina E1, the installation surface of the multiplexer 24 on the substrate 21 as shown in FIG. The electrode array 27 may be formed on the opposite surface. In such an arrangement, the tip of the substrate 21 on which the electrode array 27 is formed is inserted into a scleral pocket made by incising a part of the sclera E3 to stimulate cells constituting the retina E1. With such a configuration, when the intracorporeal device 20 is installed on the eyeball, the multiplexer 24 does not come into contact with the retina E1 and the choroid E2, so that the surgical technique at the time of installation is relatively simple (see FIG. 3). At this time, the cable 22 passes through the periphery of the patient's eye and is connected to the receiving unit 30.

  In addition, the receiving unit 30 is implanted behind the ear of the patient's head as shown in FIG. By being implanted at such a position, the receiving unit 30 comes into contact with the transmission means 14 attached to the vine portion of the visor 11 through the skin of the patient.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the installation position of the stimulating unit 40 in the visual reproduction assisting device is such that the substrate 21 is positioned in the sclera pocket formed in the sclera E3, and the retina E1 from the sclera side (choroid side) However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is only necessary that the electrode can be installed at a position where cells constituting the retina of the patient's eye can be suitably stimulated. For example, the internal device is placed in the eye of the patient's eye (on the retina or below the retina), and the tip of the substrate on which the electrode is formed is placed under the retina (between the retina and choroid) or on the retina. You can also Alternatively, the electrode array 27 may be positioned on the sclera E3 to electrically stimulate the cells constituting the retina E1 from the sclera side (choroid side). The substrate 21 can also be fixed and held on the sclera E3 by, for example, tack or an adhesive having high biocompatibility.

  As described above, the stimulation unit 40 is installed at a desired position on the sclera E3 of the patient's eye. However, the installation position of the stimulation unit 40 may be different for each patient depending on the state of the patient's eyes and the method of implantation surgery.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a case where the installation status of the stimulation unit 40 is different. Here, FIG. 4A shows a state where the electrode array 27 is installed in a horizontal direction with respect to the patient's eye, and FIG. 4B shows a state where the electrode array 27 is inclined by 50 degrees with respect to the installation state shown in FIG. Each of these states is schematically shown. In the present embodiment, in the installation state in FIG. 4A (a state where the electrode array is installed in the horizontal direction with respect to the patient's eye), stimulation is performed so that the external image is perceived by the patient without being tilted. It is assumed that a pattern is formed.

  FIG. 5 schematically shows a situation in which the stimulation pattern perceived by the patient varies depending on the state of the electrode array 27 shown in FIG. Here, in order to simplify the explanation, the stimulation pattern is shown by a 10 × 10 matrix. For convenience, the coordinates of each square are represented by rows A to J and columns 1 to 10, and each electrode 27a of the electrode array 27 shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to each of the squares shown in FIG. . The external image acquired by the imaging device 12 is larger than the number of pixels of the electrode array 27 (here, 100 pixels) (for example, 1 million pixels). For this reason, the control unit 13a simplifies by reducing the number of pixels of the external image to the number of pixels (number of electrodes) of the electrode array 27. For example, when the number of pixels of the image sensor used in the imaging device 12 is 1 million pixels, the image capturing area of the image sensor is divided into the number of pixels (100) of the electrode array 27, and each of them is shown in FIG. The image processing such as the averaging processing is performed and applied as one square (for 10,000 pixels in the image sensor). As a result, the external image is associated with the stimulation pattern. Therefore, the stimulation pattern shown here can also be regarded as the shape of the external image perceived by the patient.

  The case where the installation state of the electrode array 27 is appropriate as shown in FIG. In this situation, for example, a bar-like figure extending in the horizontal direction is presented near the center of the photographing range of the photographing device 12, and this is photographed as an external image, and a stimulus pattern for causing the patient to perceive this external image is provided. The represented state is shown in FIG. The stimulation pattern at this time is S1. The stimulation pattern S1 is 10 squares (E1 to E10) extending horizontally in the vicinity of the center corresponding to the external image acquired by the imaging device 12. With such a stimulation pattern, the external image perceived by the patient becomes a bar-like one extending in the horizontal direction.

  However, when the electrode array 27 is in the installed state as shown in FIG. 4B, the stimulation pattern given to the patient's eye is 10B (E1 to E10) of the same stimulation pattern as shown in FIG. In this case, the stimulation pattern is inclined like S2 shown in FIG. When such a stimulation pattern S2 is given to the patient's eye via the electrode array 27, the patient will perceive it as a rod-shaped object extending in an oblique direction. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the external image is rotated using image processing according to the installation state of the electrode array 27 installed on the patient's eye.

The principle of correcting the angle of the external image using image processing will be described below. In order to obtain a stimulus pattern rotated by a predetermined angle θ from an external image acquired by the imaging device 12, Equation 1 shown below is used.

Equation 1 shows an equation in which coordinates (x, y) become coordinates (X, Y) by rotating a two-dimensional coordinate counterclockwise by an angle θ by a 2 × 2 rotation matrix (transformation matrix). Yes. The coordinates (x _m , y _m ) indicate the coordinates of the reference point that is the rotation center of the coordinates (x, y). The reference point here is the photographing optical axis (imaging element center), and its coordinates are (0, 0). Here, the counterclockwise direction is the positive direction.

  The external image acquired by the imaging device 12 and subjected to image processing by the control unit 13a is associated with each of the 10 × 10 squares described above. The coordinates (x, y) here are assumed to be associated with the coordinates of each square. Therefore, the angle rotation using Expression 1 is performed on each square, and the coordinates (X, Y) are set as the coordinates (positions) of each square after the rotation. As a result, the external image is rotated.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, a procedure is shown in which the stimulation pattern S2 whose angle is rotated by 50 degrees is changed to a stimulation pattern that is perceived by the patient as a bar-like one that extends appropriately in the horizontal direction. In the equation 1, the angle θ can be rotationally converted at any angle. However, when θ is an integral multiple of 45 °, that is, θ = 45 × N (N is an integer), The sine and cosine values of the transformation matrix are half the square root, and the sign only changes depending on the angle θ. Therefore, calculation of the transformation matrix is simplified. Conversely, if the angle θ is not an integer multiple of 45 degrees, the sine and cosine values are different, and it is necessary to calculate the conversion matrix one by one.

Substituting the angle θ = 45 into Equation 1 and putting it together yields Equation 2.

  In Equation 2, the value in the 2 × 2 conversion matrix is 1 or −1, and this matrix is an arithmetic process by which the square root of 1/2 is multiplied. In other words, after the transformation matrix and the (x, y) computation (equivalent to addition) are added, an arithmetic processing may be performed in which the value is multiplied by a square root of ½. Equation 2 is when the angle θ is 45 degrees, but even in other cases, such as 135 degrees, 225 degrees, and 315 degrees, the calculation process is simplified only by changing the sign in the matrix. Absent.

  Furthermore, if the angle θ is an integral multiple of 90 degrees, the calculation is further simplified. If the angle θ is a multiple of 90 degrees, the sine and cosine values of the transformation matrix are either 0 or 1, and only the sign changes depending on the angle, so the coordinates (X, Y) are the coordinates (x , Y), (-y, x), (-x, -y), (y, -x), and the arithmetic processing is further simplified.

  Therefore, it is preferable to use an integer multiple of the predetermined angle θ = 45 degrees in Equation 1 used in the arithmetic processing, and the angle adjustment unit 13c is configured to have an input angle that is an integer multiple of 45 degrees.

  Based on the principle of angle conversion as described above, an object located at a certain coordinate of the external image is converted into a coordinate rotated by a predetermined angle θ. Based on the data composed of the coordinates after the conversion, the control unit 13a generates stimulation data.

  Based on the above, the external image inclined by 50 degrees (corresponding to the stimulation pattern S2) is corrected. When the rotation transformation represented by Equation 2 is performed on the external image corresponding to the stimulation pattern S2 illustrated in FIG. 5B, the stimulation pattern perceived by the patient is the stimulation pattern S3 illustrated in FIG. It becomes like this. The 10 square stimulus pattern S3 shown in FIG. 6A is rotated 45 degrees from the stimulus pattern S2, but is not a completely horizontal stimulus pattern. Therefore, the external image before the image processing is performed by the control unit 13a is rotated. FIG. 6B is a view of the imaging device 12 as viewed from the front. As shown in the drawing, by rotating the photographing apparatus 12 by 5 degrees, the external image itself acquired by the photographing apparatus 12 is rotated by 5 degrees.

  In this way, the stimulation pattern perceived by the patient based on the external image after the external image has been rotated by the control unit 13a by a predetermined angle unit (45 degrees or 90 degrees) within 90 degrees. By performing coarse adjustment by generating the image and further performing fine adjustment by rotating the imaging device 12, the patient can appropriately perceive an external image regardless of the installation state (angle) of the electrode array 27 (stimulation unit 40). be able to. By setting the predetermined angle unit to 45 degrees or 90 degrees, the step of angle rotation by image processing can be set finely. Further, since the arithmetic processing of the control unit 13a is an integral multiple of the predetermined angle (predetermined angle unit), the specifications (clock frequency and dedicated arithmetic circuit) of the control unit 13a do not have to be high. In addition, since the arithmetic processing is simplified, power consumption due to repetitive calculations can be suppressed. Thereby, the scale of the control unit 13a (generally referred to as CPU) may be small, and the battery 13b may not be large, so that the external device 13 itself can be made small. Further, since the arithmetic processing of the control unit 13a is simplified, it is not necessary to reduce the frame rate of the external image perceived by the patient without increasing the scale of the control unit 13a.

  In addition, since the imaging device 12 is configured to rotate within an angle range that does not exceed the angular unit of rotation processing by image processing, the imaging device does not rotate too much and the patient himself rotates the imaging device 12. The angle of the external image perceived by the patient can be finely adjusted. In the present embodiment, the rotation angle of the imaging device 12 is configured to rotate 45 degrees (or 90 degrees) in one direction with respect to the 0-degree position, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is good also as a structure rotated in both directions on the basis of a 0 degree position. If the rotation range of the imaging device 12 is 45 degrees, it may be ± 22.5 degrees, and if it is 90 degrees, it may be ± 45 degrees. This facilitates fine adjustment of the angle correction by the patient.

  In the visual reproduction assisting apparatus 1 having the above configuration, an operation for visual reproduction will be described based on a control system block diagram shown in FIG. Shooting data (image data) of an outside world image shot by the camera of the shooting device 12 is sent to the control unit 13a. The control unit 13a divides the photographed external image in accordance with the number and arrangement position of the electrodes 27a forming the electrode array 27, and performs image processing such as averaging processing and highlight display for each division, and performs the entire external image. Keep it simple. Based on the external image thus processed, stimulation data is generated so that each electrical stimulation pulse output from the electrode array 27 corresponds. Thereafter, the control unit 13a converts the stimulation data into a signal (electric stimulation pulse data) within a predetermined band necessary for the patient to visually recognize, and transmits the signal as an electromagnetic wave from the transmission unit 14 to the in-vivo device 20 side.

  At the same time, the control unit 13a converts the power supplied from the battery 13b into a signal (power) in a band different from the band of the signal (electric stimulation pulse data) described above, and combines it with the electrical stimulation pulse data as an electromagnetic wave. To the internal device 20 side.

  On the in-vivo device 20 (reception unit 30) side, the electrical stimulation pulse data and power sent from the extracorporeal device 10 are received by the receiving unit 23 and sent to the control unit 25. The control unit 25 extracts a signal in a band used by the electrical stimulation pulse data from the received signal. Based on the extracted electrical stimulation pulse data, the control unit 25 generates an electrical stimulation pulse distributed to each electrode 27a and a multiplexer control signal for controlling the electrical stimulation pulse distribution, and the electrical stimulation pulse and the control signal are generated. To the multiplexer 24. The multiplexer 24 distributes the electrical stimulation pulse to each of the plurality of electrodes 27a based on the received control signal, and outputs the electrical stimulation pulse from each electrode 27a. The cells constituting the retina are stimulated by the electrical stimulation pulse output from each electrode 27a forming the electrode array 27, and the patient perceives the external image as a stimulation pattern (gets vision).

  At this time, if the perception obtained by the patient is not appropriate, the angle of the stimulation pattern is adjusted. The adjuster presents a reference figure, for example, a bar extending in the horizontal direction, to the patient wearing the visual reproduction assisting device 1. Have the patient report to the coordinator how much the angle is different from the horizontal. The adjuster operates the angle adjustment unit 13c by a multiple of 45 degrees close to the reporting angle, and sends adjustment information (rotation angle information) to the control unit 13a. Based on the input adjustment information, the control unit 13a rotates the external image (may be an external image simplified by image processing) according to the procedure described above. By this processing, a stimulation pattern is formed based on the rotated external field image, and an electrical stimulation pulse is output from the electrode 27a to make the patient perceive the external field image after the rotation process. Thereafter, the patient rotates the imaging device 12 himself and makes fine adjustments so that the presented figure (here, a bar) can be perceived in the horizontal direction. In this way, the external image perceived by the patient is adjusted to an appropriate one. It should be noted that the angle adjustment can be performed more easily if the presented figure can be understood from the top, bottom, left and right such as a T-shape.

  As an angle adjustment combination, for example, when the external image perceived by the patient is rotated by 40 degrees, only the imaging device 12 may be rotated by 40 degrees, or the angle adjustment unit 13c can be used for the stimulation pattern. After rotating 45 degrees, the photographing apparatus 12 may be rotated by 5 degrees in the opposite direction to the previous rotation to correspond.

  In the above-described embodiment, the predetermined angle θ input to the control unit 13a is 45 degrees, and the rotation calculation process is performed in 45 degree steps (an integer multiple of 45 degrees). However, the present invention is not limited to this. is not. The angle θ may be an integer multiple of 90 degrees. As described above, if the angle θ is a multiple of 90 degrees, the calculation process is further simplified. In the case of such a configuration, the rotation base 12b of the photographing apparatus 12 is a mechanism that can rotate to a range of 90 degrees. Thereby, the burden by the arithmetic processing of the control unit 13a is reduced, and the power consumption of the control unit 13a is suppressed.

  As described above, the external field image defined in the present embodiment is the multiplexer control that distributes the electrical stimulation pulse to each electrode 27a by the multiplexer 24 in addition to the image acquired by the imaging device 12 or the image processed by the control unit 13a. Includes signals. Since the multiplexer control signal corresponds to each electrode 27a, the coordinates are assigned in the same manner as the simplified example of the external field image described above. Accordingly, the control unit 13a can perform the angle conversion process in units of the predetermined angle θ within 90 degrees using the above-described equation 1 for the multiplexer control signal.

  In the present embodiment described above, the multiplexer 24 distributes the electrical stimulation pulse to each electrode 27a (outputs the electrical stimulation pulse from each electrode 27a). However, the present invention is not limited to this. In order to generate a stimulation pattern, the controller 25 of the in-vivo device 20 may be configured to incorporate a function of outputting an electrical stimulation pulse from each electrode 27a.

It is the schematic which showed the external appearance of the visual reproduction auxiliary | assistance apparatus in this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the structure of the in-vivo apparatus in the visual reproduction auxiliary | assistance apparatus of this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the state which installed the in-vivo apparatus in the patient's eye. It is the figure which showed the difference in the installation state of the electrode array 27. FIG. It is the figure which showed the difference in the stimulation pattern produced by the difference in the installation state of the electrode array 27. FIG. It is a figure explaining the principle which rotates the angle of a stimulation pattern. It is the block diagram which showed the control system of the visual reproduction auxiliary | assistance apparatus in this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Visual reproduction | regeneration assistance apparatus 10 External device 11 Visor 13 External device 13a Control unit 13b Battery 13c Angle adjustment unit 20 In-vivo device 21 Board | substrate 21a Lead wire 24 Multiplexer 25 Control part 26 Indifferent electrode 27 Electrode array 27a Electrode 30 Reception part 40 Stimulation part

Claims (3)

An imaging means having an imaging device for acquiring an external image,
An electrode array in which a plurality of electrodes each outputting an electrical stimulation pulse for stimulating cells constituting a retina of a patient are arranged in a two-dimensional manner;
A stimulation pattern generating means for generating a stimulation pattern composed of electrical stimulation pulses output from the electrodes in order to perceive an external image acquired by the imaging means;
Electrical stimulation pulse output means for outputting electrical stimulation pulses from the respective electrodes in order to form the stimulation pattern generated by the stimulation pattern generation means;
A visual reproduction assisting device comprising:
Image processing means for performing image processing on the external image obtained by the imaging means and rotating the image at a predetermined angle unit within 90 degrees;
A rotation mechanism that rotates the imaging element around the imaging optical axis of the imaging means within an angle range that does not exceed the predetermined angular unit that rotates the external image by the image processing means;
The visual reproduction assisting device, wherein the stimulation pattern generation unit generates the electrical stimulation pulse based on the external image subjected to the image processing after the rotation by the image processing unit. 2. The visual reproduction assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined angle unit is 45 degrees or 90 degrees. 3. The visual reproduction assisting device according to claim 1, further comprising a rotation angle designating unit that inputs a designation signal for rotating the external image by a predetermined angle by the image processing unit.

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