ABSTRACT
An area of recent interest is the development of a visual prosthesis by electrically stimulating the neural tissue of blind patients. Major efforts in this area include electrode arrays implanted on or under the retina, around the optic nerve, and on or in the visual cortex. On February 19, 2000, the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, held a symposium that brought together experts from across the United States to discuss the state of the art in this area of research. This chapter provides historical background in the field and summarizes the presentations from this meeting.
