Study of tactile perception based on phosphene positioning using simulated prosthetic vision

Abstract:  In recent years, as stimulation electrodes have been implanted in the visual cortex, optic nerve, and retina to generate visual perceptions (phosphenes), the research on prosthetic vision has become a popular topic. After implantation, it is crucial to evaluate the characteristics of the stimulated phosphenes. Until now, several methods using tactile perception are proposed to describe the phosphene position, but no systematic study of the perceptional behavior has been performed. Here, an experimental study of tactile perception based on phosphene positioning was proposed using simulated prosthetic vision. Results show that the dispersion was smaller and the response time was less when phosphenes are generated in near visual field compared to the far visual field. The dispersion, the accuracy, and the response speed were better when using the visual guide. Moreover, the widely used method of using the left hand as reference and the right hand to point the phosphene may cause geographic error.