In a small experiment involving 11 patients, researchers in Germany were able to restore visual ability in three blind patients by implanting a battery-powered chip behind the retina. The three patients, who each suffered from an inherited condition that caused vision loss, were able to distinguish shapes and recognize objects within days after receiving the experimental implant.
The research was conducted at the Institute for Ophthalmic Research at the University of Tübingen and published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The experimental chip acts as a retinal prosthesis, mimicking the activity of the light-sensitive cells that have been damaged in blind people with retinal degeneration. The chip converts the light that enters the eye into electrical impulses, which are then delivered to the optic nerve and then onto the brain. In this way, the implant uses most of the eye's natural mechanics, only replacing the cells of the eye that receive light.
If the results of the proof-of-concept study can be replicated, this type of device may someday help improve visual ability in patients with conditions including retinitis pigmentosa, choroideraemia and age-related macular degeneration, which destroy light-sensitive cells, but leave the rest of the eye and visual system intact.
Dr. Eberhart Zrenner, founding director of Retinal Implant AG, the company that makes the subretinal chip, and director and chair of University of Tübingen Eye Hospital, wrote with his colleagues in the new paper: "The results of this pilot study provide strong evidence that the visual functions of patients blinded by a hereditary retinal dystrophy can, in principle, be restored to a degree sufficient for use in daily life."
Info from http://healthland.time.com/
This is wonderful news for blind people, just imagine what it must be like to be able to see for the very first time or regain your sight. This is worth any amount of money and should inspire so many people with hope. It's amazing that Science Fiction is becoming reality once again and what wonderful joy this will give.
The experimental chip acts as a retinal prosthesis, mimicking the activity of the light-sensitive cells that have been damaged in blind people with retinal degeneration. The chip converts the light that enters the eye into electrical impulses, which are then delivered to the optic nerve and then onto the brain. In this way, the implant uses most of the eye's natural mechanics, only replacing the cells of the eye that receive light.
If the results of the proof-of-concept study can be replicated, this type of device may someday help improve visual ability in patients with conditions including retinitis pigmentosa, choroideraemia and age-related macular degeneration, which destroy light-sensitive cells, but leave the rest of the eye and visual system intact.
Dr. Eberhart Zrenner, founding director of Retinal Implant AG, the company that makes the subretinal chip, and director and chair of University of Tübingen Eye Hospital, wrote with his colleagues in the new paper: "The results of this pilot study provide strong evidence that the visual functions of patients blinded by a hereditary retinal dystrophy can, in principle, be restored to a degree sufficient for use in daily life."
Info from http://healthland.time.com/
This is wonderful news for blind people, just imagine what it must be like to be able to see for the very first time or regain your sight. This is worth any amount of money and should inspire so many people with hope. It's amazing that Science Fiction is becoming reality once again and what wonderful joy this will give.
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