[LINK] Fwd: vip-l: Fwd: Article: Bionic eye 'on market in two years'

[Jan Whitaker]

Ain't technology fantastic? First the bionic ear, now the bionic eye.

From: Geetha Shamanna geetha at millernorbert.de
To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List gui-talk at nfbnet.org

Bionic eye 'on market in two years' (London Daily Telegraph)

By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent, in San Francisco Last Updated: 9:15am
GMT 16/02/2007

A bionic eye that can restore sight to the blind could be on the market
within two years, according to scientists.

The first six patients to try the revolutionary devices have learnt how to
detect light, distinguish between objects and perceive direction of motion.

American scientists were this week given approval to test a more advanced
version of the electronic retinal implant on up to 75 subjects.

The breakthrough offers new hope to millions of people around the world who
have lost their vision to degenerative eye diseases, particularly those with
macular degeneration - the most common cause of blindness in western
countries. Up to 15pc of over-75s are affected by the condition.

It will also help those with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of incurable
inherited eye diseases that cause the degeneration of the photoreceptor
cells whose
job it is capture and process light. The device takes the place of the
photoreceptors.

Prof Mark Humayun, from the University of Southern California, who is
leading the research, yesterday said he had received approval for a clinical
trial
of the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System.

Speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science
conference in San Francisco, Prof Humayun said: "We have successfully
implanted six
patients in the trial.

"We expected that all they would be able to do would be to differentiate
between light and dark, but were amazed to find they can tell the difference
between
objects such as a plate, a knife and a cup, and tell which way people are
moving across their field of vision.

"If the new trial hits its milestones the second generation implant could be
commercially available in two years."

The device, manufactured by the California-based company Second Sight
Medical Products, comes in two parts.

A tiny camera in the lens or on the bridge of a pair of light-weight glasses
captures images in real time. This information is transmitted to a radio
receiver
implanted behind the patient's ear which converts it to electrical signals
that are sent to a grid of electrodes implanted in the retina.

These electrodes stimulate retinal nerve cells to produce electrical
impulses which send signals to the brain so that the patient can see spots
of light
occurring in different patterns.

For example, the technology can be programmed to represent a as a U-shaped
pattern of light dots, while a circle of dots might indicate the presence of
a plate.

The first six patients, who all have retinitis pigmentosa, took one to two
months to learn to use the device, with those with higher educational
standards
taking less time.

While the first generation device had 16 electrodes in a square on a 4mm by
5mm silicon and platinum chip attached to the retina, the new one has 60
electrodes,
hopefully giving patients higher resolution images of more objects.

The Argus II, which costs around £15,000, is also approximately one quarter
the size of the original, reducing surgery and recovery times. It cannot
help
those whose optic nerves that had been cut or in patients who have had
strokes that have affected the brain's information to process nerve signals.

Prof Humayun added that he hoped to produce a third generation implant with
1,000 electrodes which could allow more advanced tasks such as face
recognition
within seven years.

Jan Whitaker
JLWhitaker Associates, Melbourne Victoria
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
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'Seed planting is often the most important step. 
Without the seed, there is no plant.' - JW, April 2005
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