A preliminary simulation study of virtual channel generated by penetrating optic nerve electrical stimulation

Visual prosthesis is an implantable microelectronic system which collects and processes external image information to stimulate the remaining neural tissue of the visual pathway of the blind, helping them restore some functional vision. This paper focuses on an optic nerve visual prosthesis using penetrating micro-electrode array to stimulate optic nerve fibers. One challenge that visual prosthesis faces is that large amounts of information are needed to be input but the number of stimulating electrodes is limited. To solve this problem, auditory prosthesis uses a "virtual channel" technology to increase the number of auditory perception channels without increasing the number of electrodes. Only a preliminary simulation in retinal prosthesis has been conducted currently about virtual channels. Based on the penetrating optic nerve prosthesis, this study established an optic nerve fiber activation model in response to dual-electrode electrical stimulation. By studying the impact of the electric field interaction induced by dual-electrode simultaneous stimulation on the size and shape of the optic nerve fiber recruitment area, a theoretical reference can be provided to the design of micro-electrode array arrangement and electrical stimulation strategy in virtual channel study of optic nerve prosthesis.