Thermal analysis of intraocular electronic display projector visual prosthesis

Abstract

Corneal opacity is a leading cause of blindness, accounting for about 4% of global blindness. With corneal opacity, light is unable to pass through the cornea to form a clear image on the retina, resulting in blindness. To address this condition, an intraocular projection device has been designed. This device, while in use, would produce heat. According to international standard regulations, the temperature on the surface of the tissues should not increase more than 2° C due to medical devices. In order to establish the power budget of this intraocular electronic device, a steady state thermal finite element analysis was conducted on two different eye models. The device was placed at 9.98 mm from the retina, and was seen to run up to a maximum power of 82 mW for the first model and 91 mW for the second model. To reduce heating of tissues, the device was extended by 0.5 mm to create an air gap which acted as an insulator. The temperature in the nearest living tissue then dropped below the prescribed limit of 2° C at 100 mW.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like thank John Stark and Torna Patil for their help and feedback on the models.

Additional information

Funding

This research is partially funded by US Department of Defense grant VR180058 and US NIH National Eye Institute grant K08EY27469. This support is gratefully acknowledged.