Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Wireless Implants Promise Superior Vision Restoration

Posted by Unknown on from the trends-show-cool-visors-back-in-fashion dept.

ananyo writes, quoting Nature: "The development of retinal implants has been dogged by problems of unwieldiness since the first implantable stimulator for vision restoration was developed in 1968. Now researchers have come up with a solution that overcomes many of the problems by the use of special glasses that fire infrared signals into the eye and onto an implanted array of silicon photodiodes. The system, tested in rats, simplifies what needs to be implanted and both transmits visual data and power directly to the implants, eliminating the need for any bulky external power source (abstract)."

14 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. I won't be impressed... by seanzig · · Score: 4, Funny

    until they make them like Laforge's visor.

    1. Re:I won't be impressed... by amicusNYCL · · Score: 5, Funny

      ...the use of special glasses that fire infrared signals into the eye and onto an implanted array of silicon photodiodes. The system, tested in rats...

      I won't be impressed until they show us pictures of rats wearing tiny eyeglasses.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    2. Re:I won't be impressed... by suutar · · Score: 2

      The problem with showing that stuff to the bridge crew is they're only equipped for the normal red-violet range, so anything the visor is detecting has to get mapped into that range, and since most folks can't see IR or UV, nobody worries about glare or reflection in those frequencies (in most cases), so without a lot of practice, a wider range is going to look like crap to a normal viewer. Lots of practice, or using a sliding filter to determine what frequencies you want to see now, should make it more useful.

    3. Re:I won't be impressed... by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 2

      Uh...here's one.

      I gotta admit, that was my first reaction, too. Missed it by that much...

  2. Re:Implanted array of silicon photodiodes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Short term this is the best you can do. Medium-term regenerative medicine seems better. Long-term implanted devices should surpass biological eyes so you'd want them even if you had normal eyesight. We need this kind of research for both the short term and the long term.

  3. Re:Implanted array of silicon photodiodes by tomhath · · Score: 2

    Regrowing a new retina would be the ultimate, but given that the retina is a huge bundle of nerves I doubt we'll see that anytime soon. This seems to be stimulating existing receptors to give some vision (I assume very bad, but better than nothing).

  4. Implanted tech by girlintraining · · Score: 3, Informative

    I've already heard of diabetic pumps failing when exposed to airport scanners, and those have less sophisticated electronics. I imagine if these were ever approved, we're going to have a lot of people going blind everytime they fly. The problem with wireless medical technology is part 16 of the FCC rules: It's perfectly legal to overload them with high energy RF, with potentially lethal results.

    --
    #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    1. Re:Implanted tech by girlintraining · · Score: 2

      In regards to people going blind due to interference... they're already blind, so they'd just go back to "normal."

      I wonder how well you'd react to having your vision taken from you without warning, while trapped in a plastic tube, in a loud and public environment, surrounded by men with shotguns...

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
  5. Glasses by BradleyUffner · · Score: 2

    What I want to know is; how did they get the rats to wear the glasses?

    1. Re:Glasses by Lord_of_the_nerf · · Score: 2

      Put them on a crime scene investigation show and give them snappy one liners.

  6. Works for me by willworkforbeer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Implants always cause my vision to suddenly improve.

    --
    Pretending this is my office full of bitter coworkers..
  7. Re:Implanted array of silicon photodiodes by dmbasso · · Score: 3, Informative

    Interesting fact of the day: the retina is actual brain tissue that during development migrates, forming the optic nerve and back of the eye.

    --
    `echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
  8. Re:More control by dmbasso · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, reading the summary I instantly remembered Ghost in the Shell - Standalone Complex, where augmented people could easily have their eyes hacked. Too bad it is infrared, imagine the possibilities if it was wifi. :)

    --
    `echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
  9. Re:Implanted array of silicon photodiodes by mcgrew · · Score: 2

    Long-term implanted devices should surpass biological eyes so you'd want them even if you had normal eyesight.

    You would have someone sticking needles in your eye if your eye was working fine? I have an implant in my left eye that gives me better than 20/20 at all distances, I'm 60 and don't even need reading glasses, but I wouldn't have had the surgery if all that was wrong with the eye was age-related farsightedness.

    All surgery is dangerous. People have died from such minor surgeries as tonsellectomies and hemmoroidectomies.

    --
    Free Martian Whores!