title: Estimation of simulated phosphene size based on tactile perception.
abstract: Clinical trials have successfully shown that a visual prosthesis can elicit visual perception (phosphenes) in the visual field. Psychophysical studies based on simulated prosthetic vision offer an effective means to evaluate and refine prosthetic vision. We designed three experiments to examine the effect of phosphene luminance, flicker rate, and eccentricity on the ability to estimate simulated phosphene sizes using tactile perception. Thirty subjects participated in the three experiments. There was a linear increase in reported size as visual stimulus size increased. Judgment was significantly affected by stimulus luminance and eccentricity (P < 0.05) but not by flicker rates. Brighter stimuli were perceived as being larger, and the more eccentric the position, the larger the estimated size. These simulation studies, although idealized, suggested that tactile perception is a potential way to estimate phosphene sizes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yanyu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Panpan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jingru
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Qiushi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Xinyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010719:Phosphenes / Q000502:physiology*; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012984:Software; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult