Gizmodo: bionic eye

Elderly Man Sees For First Time in 30 Years With Bionic Eye

Elaine Chow — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:45:13 EST

A 73-year-old man was recently given vision again after being outfitted with a "bionic eye." After 30 years of darkness, he now can see enough to follow white lines on the road and sort socks.

The eye, known as Argus II, is made by American company Second Sight. It works by using a camera and video processor mounted on sunglasses to send captured images to a tiny receiver placed on the outside of a patient's eye.

73-year-old Ron lost his site in his 40s thanks to retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited disorder that causes progressive peripheral vision loss. He is one of 18 patients across the world taking part in Second Sight's experiment.

"They said let their be light, there was light. For 30 years I've seen absolutely nothing at all, it's all been black. But now light is coming through," he told the BBC.

"It's a great privilege and an honor, I think, to be able to take part in an experiment such as this - hoping that the outcome is going to be able to bring sight to people, like myself, that were completely blind." [BBC via Boingboing]

Nano-Sized Semiconductor Dots Could Fix Your Terrible Vision

Adrian Covert — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:20:00 EST

New Scientist reports that researchers at the University of Colorado came up with this crazy idea that if they inject semiconductor nanoparticles in your retinas, photons will make them glow, thus improving your vision.

These quantum dots, as they're referred to, would theoretically fluoresce when hit by light packets, and serve as a light amplifier for retinal images. The patent says early tests on rats have been successful, as they showed improved vision over the control group. The upside is that this solution requires no power source, and can target specific areas of the retina, making it more of a reality than bionic eyes or begging for an eye cam. [Patent via New Scientist via Oh Gizmo!]

Researchers Create Bionic Eye Prototype, Render Guide Dogs Obsolete

Adrian Covert — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:39:44 EDT

The Boston Retinal Implant Project recently developed a bionic eye implant that will restore vision to those affected by degenerative blindness. The device works by being implanted into the back of the eyeball and working as a light transmitter to the brain, where the two are connected by a nerve/wire thinner than a human hair.

Now, the technology has its limitations; it won't give sight to those born blind or who suffer glaucoma, nor will it offer perfect vision. Only for those who previously had sight, and a semi-functional optical nerve, is this possible. The idea is that it will give the blind a general sense of their surroundings so they can function on a basic level. But researchers do hope to improve the technology so that users can recognize things like facial detail and expressions in the future. [Boston Herald via Crunch Gear]

Eyeball-Implanted Camera Patent May Bring Electronic Vision, One Day

Kit Eaton — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:48:00 EST

Implanting a micro-camera directly into the eyeball may be a future solution for restoring sight to people with damaged vision, according to this patent application. The camera could be charged wirelessly, and communicate directly with a chip implanted at the back of the eye, so very little external hardware would be needed:

Technology to restore sight to the blind by using electronic retinas has been around for a while, but the link between the retina and external cameras has involved wires, which just seems clumsy. UCLA Optical engineer Michelle Hauer thinks that technology may have advanced enough to embed a tiny camera inside the lens of the eye, capable of adapting for corneal optical effects and perhaps using haptics to stabilize its position. The camera would transmit images to a nerve-stimulating chip at the back of the eye, resulting in a complete electronic vision system.

Impressive idea, and I hope it makes its way into real medical devices sometime soon. In the meantime, I'm wondering if you could adapt it for infrared vision, or have a telephoto zoom built right into your eye. [Patent for intraocular camera via New Scientist]