Chuanqing Wang received the B.S. degree in material science and engineering from Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China. He joined the Center of Excellence in Biomedical Research on Advanced Integrated-on-chips Neurotechnologies (CenBRAIN Neurotech) and became a PhD Candidate of Westlake University in September 2019. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from Westlake University / Fudan University in 2024.    

Chuanqing is interested in retinal prostheses that is intended to enhance vision in individuals suffering from retinal impairments such as Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). Intelligent and low-power retinal prostheses are highly demanded in this era, where wearable and implantable devices are used for numerous healthcare applications. To stay current and address this challenge, we propose a bio-inspired power-efficient optogenetics-based retinal prostheses. This approach utilizes a spike-based processing framework that mimics the behavior of the human retina and replaces the function of degenerative cell layers. This algorithm is being implemented on a custom neuromorphic processor to meet the criteria for real-time processing and low-power consumption. The above-mentioned optogenetics-based retinal prosthetic device can effectively replace the function of damaged cell layers, while also addressing the imbalance between processing speed and power consumption in the processor of existing retinal prosthetic. This offers a promising solution for improving the vision restoration effect of patients with AMD and RP.

[1] C. Wang*, D. Wu*, C. Fang, J. Yang and M. Sawan, “Exploring Effective Stimulation Patterns via Vision System Modeling for Visual Prostheses,” International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), May 2024.

[2] C. Wang, C. Fang, Y. Zou, J. Yang and M. Sawan, “ SpikeSEE: An energy-efficient dynamic scenes processing framework for retinal prostheses,” Neural Networks, 2023, 164: 357-368.

[3] C. Wang, J. Yang and M. Sawan. "NeuroSEE: A Neuromorphic Energy-Efficient Processing Framework for Visual Prostheses," IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, vol. 26, no. 8, pp. 4132-4141, Aug. 2022, doi: 10.1109/JBHI.2022.3172306. (Journal cover)