Artificial Retinas Bring Vision Back To The Blind

Patters writes "Researchers from the University of California and the Doheny Eye Institute have successfully implanted a tiny electronic eye implant with a video camera mounted on a pair of sunglasses into 6 patients, allowing them to detect light and motion. The implant is a 4-by-4 grid of electrodes which connects to damaged photoreceptors (rods and cones) on the patient's retina. It works by stimulating the photoreceptors, transmitting signals through the optic nerve to the brain. The implant only works on patients with degenerated rods and cones, and is named after Argus, the Greek god which had 100 eyes. If the implants continue to be a success, the artificial retinas could be available to the public within the next 3 years."

Comments

Re:remember everyone

[kebes]

You are absolutely right. Many experiments have shown that if vision is impaired during certain critical developmental periods, then normal vision will never be possible, even if their eyes work perfectly. (The work began with Hubel and Wiesel's work on kittens, for which they received the 1981 Nobel Prize in medicine, but has been extended by many others.) These experiments have even shown that you can limit vision in certain ways (blocking out only one part of a visual field, for instance, or letting them mature in an environment devoid of a particular class of visual cue) and the animal will simply have that part of their visual system undeveloped (while other parts still work).

So there is no way that those born without vision will ever attain what we consider normal vision. That having been said, it may be possible that they can achieve some rudimentary visual capabilities. For instance, they may learn to use the stimulus from a 4X4 grid in order to help them know when objects are approaching, or to better interpret their other senses. It isn't much, but for someone who has been blind their whole life, even some vague visual information (like knowing how bright their surroundings are!) may be helpful. Obviously more research is necessary in order to know if even these limited abilities can be learned later in life.

Argus NOT a Greek God

[Danuvius]

Argus is a *giant*, not a God, in greek mythology.

He did have 100 eyes though. "He was thus a very effective watchman, as only a few of the eyes would sleep at a time; there were always eyes still awake.", as the Wikipedia notes