Ophthalmologists, Physicists Design Bionic Eye

InfallibleLies writes "For the first time ever, those who have been blind since birth will have a chance to see the world. It's still in the early stages, but this is a giant leap forward in medical science." From the linked BBC article: "U.S scientists have designed a bionic eye to allow blind people to see again. It comprises a computer chip that sits in the back of the individual's eye, linked up to a mini video camera built into glasses that they wear. Images captured by the camera are beamed to the chip, which translates them into impulses that the brain can interpret."

Comments

Nonvisible wavelenghts?

[bird603568]

Would it be possible to make it "see" infared. Then it would translated it to false color? It would be like the first upgrade in Rouge angent.

From birth?

[puppyfox]

I'm not so sure that people bling from birth will benefit from any such device. That part of their brain is not even developed, you can't just "plug in" some video feed and expect them to see, do you?

Re:From birth?

[puppyfox]

Fact is, the brain keeps developing after the baby is born, so even if you're perfectly normal but blindfolded (or in the dark) for you first few years, you won't be able to ever see "normally". Same goes for some other complex brain functions, like using language. One of those funny facts that stick with you from college classes :)

Re:From birth?

[duffahtolla]

No, this is true. Being in the womb is why babies are born with crappy vision. The neural pathways in the brain have not yet formed. As the baby tries to "see" things, the pathways map themselves to the signals. Thats why you can't leave an eye patch on a new born for too long.

This goes on for about 6 to 9 years where vision stops development.

There was a case where a mans vision was restored, (Lost durring childhood) where he simply could not deal with his new vision. He nearly killed himself trying to pick up the "toy" car outside his window. He voluntarily went back to blindness. (I have no references, sorry)

Even the article specifically states: "US scientists have designed a bionic eye to allow blind people to see again."

Re:From birth?

[RabidMoose]

So as soon as it's apparent that a baby has been born blind, fit them with the eye and glasses. It could be done around the same time a male baby would be circumcised (in the first year), and the child would not only never remember the surgery, but would never remember not being able to see. Of course, I'm no doctor, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

hmmm.

[sugapablo]

So how long before upgrades make this "bionic eye" significantly better than a human eye?

Will we reach a point where attaching this bionic eye becomes an elective surgery where someone wants to simply improve their eyesight beyond 20/20; beyond what a mere "human" can see?

Breast inlargements, designer babies, bionic implants....where is it all going?

Re:A little goes a long way

[MagicDude]

Indeed. Your brain can do a lot of interpretation based on just a little input. For example, take this little flash quiz.

http://www.onceuponadime.com/gold/12pixelheroes.sw f

I think you'll be surprised at how well you'll do despite having only 12 pixels to identify a superhero's costume. However, I don't think a person who has been blind all his life can make the same interpretations a regular person can. We take for granted how much our brain fills in the gaps of what we can't (or don't) see. A person who hasn't learned to do this would probably have a great deal of difficulty doing this.