Design of the experimental setup and testing of a wireless integrated circuit for artificial retina

The purpose of this thesis is to build a laboratory setup for testing an artificial retina neurostimulator with wireless power and data transmission to treat chronic diseases of the eye like retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), to which there is no cure at the moment. The goal of the artificial retina is to recover the loss of vision caused by damaged photoreceptors through electrical stimulation. Power must be supplied by an external case containing a battery and the the neurostimulator requires an integrated circuit for power and data transmission across the human body. Right now existing artificial retina devices are very limited and rudimental so there is a need to do more research to find new devices for the market. The main problem is power consumption, since high power is required to implement an adequate resolution of recovered vision. The integrated circuit also dissipates too much heat and has a large area. Other problems that need to be addressed are an insufficient vision resolution, incomplete level of packaging, and crosstalk between the electrodes which release electrical stimulation currents. The proposed neurostimulator uses the technique called pulse delay modulation (PDM) for transmitting the data. This technique allows to transmit power and data signals across human skin in medical applications with a reduced power consumption and a good efficiency.