An ultrasound-based noninvasive neural interface to the retina

Focused ultrasound (FUS) is emerging as a promising technology for neural stimulation. In this study, we demonstrate the algorithm and the frontend integrated circuit (IC) architecture design for an ultrasound-based noninvasive neural interface to the retina. A digital image is provided as the input to the system, and the system calculates the excitation signal for each element in a 2D transducer array. With each element being excited accordingly, the array can “project” the image onto the retina as an ultrasound field pattern (USFP). The algorithm is based on the fast Fourier transform (FFT), which makes real-time implementation feasible.