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Nanobatteries Power Artificial Eyes
Roland Piquepaille writes "A new U.S. research center, the National Center for Design of Biomimetic Nanoconductors, has been opened to promote new ideas in the field of nanomedicine. For example, a team of researchers at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is developing a nano-size battery to be implanted in the eye to power artificial retina. But this center will also design and build 'nanomedical devices based on natural and synthetic ion transporters -- proteins that control ion motion across the membranes of every living cell.'"
I wonder if this kind of technology will make it possible for people who have working nerves and brain center for sight, but whose eyes have been destroyed by illness or damage to the retina? Would macular degeneration, which according to http://www.macular.org/disease.html affects over 10 million Americans alone, be one of the blindnesses treatable by nanobatteries?
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
So... uh, back to where you were.
... with Picture-in-Picture.
Yep, keep developing that high technology for my disabled countrymen, because sooner or later the technology will become common place and I'll finally be able to go get my retinas replaced. Why would I want to replace my healthy retinas with electronic ones? Well, for a start, I'm red/green color blind, and I don't think gene therapy is going to be available sooner than this stuff. Irrespective of that, when this technology is capable of delivering sharper images to my brain than the retinas I was born with what have I got to lose? Then there's the added benefit of interfacing my shiny new retinas with computer systems.
How we know is more important than what we know.
short and simple answer is that the battery should be nearly harmless. If it breaks down it might be a bit of a drag on the local metabolism. And assuming that the protien isnt some sort of prion precursor (unlikely for a membrane protien) it should be safe.
Storm
Why not implant something like they use in self-winding watches?
If they're going to use nano-batteries, then we're talking mili-volts or less.
The mechanisms that power self-winding watches don't actually require that much movement to recharge themselves.
Just walking around a bit should give enough power to keep things running all day. And it doesn't need replacing.
Just my 2 pence. Feel free to tell me why it's a bad idea
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
In the case of breast enhancements, the body forms scar tissue around the silicone implants.
In the case of artifical hearts, the patients faces the serious risk of blood clotting. The blood clots can flow into the brain and cause a stroke.
Advances in science are great, but we've "just gotta know its limitations".
1. They haven't developed the eyes any further than otherwise reported some time ago.
2. The batteries don't exist yet, really.
3. The batteries that don't yet exist are being designed for artificial eyes that don't yet exist.
I'm all for this technology to mature -- I have two blind relatives and it seems likely that others in my family will also have problems as they age. The kinds of work they're doing should help them if it matures. This article, however, doesn't actually show much advancement other than a new lab is working on a new thing, that could power a new device -- when they all get it figured out.
I wish
The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
If we could ignore for a moment the trolls and knuckle draggers who must comment on Susan Rempe's appearance, this advance will be important to those of us who are losing eyesight to RP or AMD.
Most of the current clinical trials for artificial retinas (http://www.optobionics.com/ excluded) rely on some sort of external component partially due to the lack of a sufficiently small, dense, permanent, biocompatible power source. This then requires some sort of link to the retinal surface, either via micro-lasers or implanted ultra-thin wires. As much as enjoy watching ST:TNG, I for one would happily trade the Geordi LaForge look for a strictly internal prosthetic.
To err is human. To arr is pirate.
Only the rich will be able to afford this tech for the next 10-20 years. You know, some nations have socialized medicine...
Tachikoma: "Mr. Bato! Where are you going?"
Bato: "I can't see a damn thing! All I see is this blue screen with some stupid message asking me to press enter."
Kusanagi: "Is that why you are in the ladies rest room?"
Aramaki: "What the hell are you all stand around and blathering about?!"
Kusanagi: "It's Bato. He's got the blue screen of death again."
Togusa: "Have you pressed CTRL-ALT-DEL?"
Saito: "What are you? Some kind of noobie? Run a diagonstic!"
Aramaki: "Go to the Start Menu!"
Tachikoma: "Call technical support!"
The other Tachikomas (pass through the hall): "What's going on?"
Tachikoma: "It's Mr. Bato! He can't see!"
Bato (bumps head against the wall accidently, then is embarrassed by the events that just occured): "If I don't show up for work tomarrow, don't call to wake me up."
The Rapture is NOT an exit strategy.
OK, so my first thought, upon reading this...
The human body has been doing remarkably well at powering itself, without batteries, for millenia (with the one exception on Monday mornings).
Why do we need "nano" batteries? If we're down to the point of building things at an atomic level, shouldn't we be at the point where we a) build things with the same (or at least similar) efficiency as the body had in the first place and b) thus use the same power supply the part we're replacing used?
Whilst it's really cool we're building nano-batteries, it sounds more like a lab cashing in on the exciting buzz technology of the moment to solve a problem rather than looking at the problem that actually needs solving and finding the right solution for it.
It makes me wonder, did people 150 years ago try getting seed captial for equally ridiculous concepts involving the new buzz tech of steam? Actually, thinking about it, I know they did - and we laugh at the craziness of the inventors who anounced they were going to invent steam powered underpants or whatever back then. Makes me wonder how much the people of 150 years in the future will smack their heads and laugh at the ridiculous concepts for exploiting nano-tech we're coming up with now, when far more obvious solutions were staring us in the face.