Technical Implementation of a Visual Attention Neuro-Prosthesis

Brain damage to visual cortex causes hemianopia, along with significant changes in looking behavior. Previously, we have proposed a visual attention neuro-prosthesis to correct the distribution of visual aattention in patients with damage to visual cortex. The prosthesis consists of an eye tracker, a forward-facing camera, and electric micro stimulation in superior colliculus (SC), a midbrain structure related to visual attention. We demonstrate in this paper that the prosthesis can be built using available hardware, and the only technical hurdle remaining is to implant stimulating electrodes of sufficient density in the midbrain.