Artificial retina

[Fraggle Rocker]

Those of you old enough to have seen Star Trek:TNG will recall that Lt. Geordie Laforge was blind, but wore a visor that was connected to his nerves and allowed him to see as well as everyone else--better, actually.

It turns out that a mere twenty years later, they're workin' on it! Today's Parade magazine had a list of "The Breakthroughs of the Year." One of the items is a tiny video camera that transmits signals to electrodes implanted in the back of the eye and connects to the optic nerve. This first generation prototype only allows them to see light and dark. That probably doesn't sound like much to you, but ask a blind person how they feel about it!

Just being able to discern brightness from shade will help them navigate. Obviously people who have been blind since birth develop other ways of sensing their environment, perhaps even a rudimentary form of echolocation, and it would take them a while to get used to having a brand new sense, much less learning to make practical use of it. But sighted people who lost their sight would consider this device a miracle.

At this point it's just a matter of improving the technology and the researchers are already talking about moving up to reading and facial recognition!

I can't believe I missed this. I Googled it and although it's there, and this report is clearly accurate, for some bizarre reason it didn't seem to get a lot of news coverage last year.

 

[madanthonywayne]

This is pretty cool. The technology is in the very early stages, but there are some patients already in trials using it and they've actually regained some useful vision. The level of vision they have is mostly light/dark and crude images of forms. But they're implanting these things in people who used to have normal vision but have been totally blind for years (mostly from Retinitis Pigmentosa). Here's a link with lots of info on the project:

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Artificial Retina Project is a collaborative, multi-institutional effort to develop an implantable microelectronic retinal prosthesis that restores useful vision to people blinded by retinal diseases. The ultimate goal of the project is to restore reading ability, facial recognition, and unaided mobility in people with retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.

The project taps into the unique research technologies and resources developed at DOE national laboratories to surmount the many technical challenges involved with developing a safe, effective, and durable product. The research team includes six DOE national laboratories, four universities, and private industry.

Three models are now in development or testing. Model 1, with 16 electrodes, has been implanted in six patients. As of mid-July 2009, a second model integrating a 60-electrode array has been implanted in 30 human subjects domestically and internationally. A third model, an array with a higher electrode count, is under development.

Clinical testing of the devices is supported by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health and others. For information on eligibility for participation in these studies​

Artificial Retina Project​

 

[Fraggle Rocker]

As a musician and music lover, I'm far more frightened by the prospect of going deaf than blind. I hope someone is making the same kind of progress on that front.

 

[madanthonywayne]

As a musician and music lover, I'm far more frightened by the prospect of going deaf than blind. I hope someone is making the same kind of progress on that front.

I think the state of the art is actually more advanced in that area. It's pretty well known that Rush LImbaugh, for instance, has a Cochlear implant since losing his hearing back in 2001. It does not fully restore hearing, but it's closer to it than the artificial retina is to restoring "normal" vision.