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Bionic Eyes
DNAhelix writes: "From NASA: Bionic Eyes - Using space technology, scientists have developed extraordinary ceramic photocells that could repair malfunctioning human eyes."
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"We are conducting preliminary tests on the ceramic detectors for biocompatibility, and they appear to be totally stable"
Hmmm... As a lifelong glasses/contacts wearer, I don't like the sound of the words 'preliminary' and 'appear' in this article. By the time they're actually ready, I bet I'll be long gone. A shame.
Long term testing needs to be done too; since the eyes deteriorate with age (which can adversely affect the results of current corrective surgery, such as LASIK where if you get it done too soon, you'll need glasses again by the time you're 35-40) I'd love to know what will happen to this technology.
Don't get me wrong; it's way cool. But these are my eyes, dammit!
Pardon me, but reading the article, two major questions came to my mind.
The question of availability has already been asked, and the answer clearly is in a long long time. I'm glad to hear they found some desperate person to accept to test the technology as soon as 2002 (don't misunderstand me, I'd be desperate too if I lost my eyes), but come on. It won't work right the first time, nor the second. And then they'll have to conduct large-scale studies to optimize the huge amount of parameters and tunings such operations involve. I don't expect such operations becoming common before ten or twenty years.
But moreover, how much will this cost? Ultra-thin ceramic films don't grow on trees, and I'd be surprised they'd become cheap, relatively speaking, anyday soon. Besides I guess that people able to put millimeter-sized implants at the back of the eye are not selling their skills for free, far from it. I think only a few crazy millionaires will have a chance to try it in the next few years, if even they dare, or their insurances allow them.
This doesn't support the original assertion that someone will never be able to learn to see. In fact, it is just the opposite, that people with eyesight restored do learn to see eventually.
Umm, I'm going to classify it as pretty funny.
About your sister; her viewpoint does not strike me as particularly healthy. For 20+ years I've been told that science would cure my macular degeneration, and my mother was told the same thing about HER eyes for 20+ years before me. Living life waiting for a cure is unhealthy, as it can lead to depression when that cure doesn't arrive, and unproductive for obvious reasons.
I read articles like this and take them with a grain of salt. They're neat little curiosities, but they get shoved in the same mental pile as all of the stories about terahertz processors, holographic memory, and privatized spaceflight that we'll have "some day Real Soon Now." So don't hold your breath.
A bit of advice (which I'm sure she's heard a hundred times before) for your sister; don't wait for a cure. Assume that it's never going to happen, and get on with your life. It's a whole lot easier than you think.
-- Minds are like parachutes... they work best when open.