Visual sensations produced by optic nerve stimulation using an implanted self-sizing spiral cuff electrode

A blind volunteer with retinitis pigmentosa was chronically implanted with a self-sizing spiral cuff electrode around an optic nerve. Electrical stimu li applied to the nerve produced localized visual sensations that were broa dly distributed throughout the visual field and could be varied by changing the stimulating conditions. These results demonstrate the potential for co nstructing a visual prosthesis, based on electrical stimulation of the opti c nerve, for blind subjects who have intact retinal ganglion cells. (C) 199 8 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.