restore sight
Latest
Bio-electronic implant seeks to restore partial sight
We've seen initiatives all over the globe created in an attempt to beat blindness, but researchers based at MIT are feeling fairly confident that their development is within a few years of being able to "restore partial sight to people who have slowly gone blind because of degenerative diseases of the retina." The bio-electronic implant, which is about the size of a pencil eraser, would actually sit behind the retina at the back of the eyeball, and images would be transmitted to the brain "via a connector the width of a human hair." As it stands, an FDA grant application is already in the works, and the scientists are hoping to have it implanted in an animal as early as this summer. Still, the solution only works for folks who "were once able to see and have partially intact optic nerve cells" -- those who were blind from birth or suffer from glaucoma are unfortunately ineligible for the procedure.[Thanks, Rusty]
UK scientists seek to restore sight
We're confident that between all these brilliant minds, restoration of sight in humans isn't too terribly far off. Scientists housing their research in Glasgow University are working towards incorporating a device similar to a digital camera (surgery cost based on megapixels and zoom?) into those who have lost their vision due to "age-related macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa." More specifically, an imaging detector would be used to detect light sources that would electrically stimulate the retina in the shape of the given image(s). From there, the process is fairly natural as the brain receives an image via the optic nerve that it can comprehend. So what differentiates this study from the rest? If successful, the image detectors will have memory chips that could allow for slow motion viewing and instant replays of what humans equipped with the device see, possibly giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "double-take."
