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First Bionic Eye Gets FDA Blessing

Posted by samzenpus on from the all-the-better-to-see-you-with dept.

coondoggie writes "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved what it says is the first bionic eye, or retinal prosthesis, that can partially restore the sight of blind individuals after surgical implantation. The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System includes a small video camera, transmitter mounted on a pair of eyeglasses, video processing unit (VPU) and an implanted artificial retina. The VPU transforms images from the video camera into electronic data that is wirelessly transmitted to the retinal prosthesis."

9 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Check out the view with the eye by Virtual_Raider · · Score: 2

    Damn yoo trooll, you got me! Well played :)

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    +Raider of the lost BBS
  2. Brain Interface by balsy2001 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I hope that eventually we get to the point where full sight can be restored for all blind individuals. However, there are many reasons for blindness and this one will probably only help with those caused by problems with the by the retina (at least in the near term, long term all of this research will be tremendously valuable). It seems like the Argus II is still in the general size, shape, motion category, but even that would be a tremendous gain to someone that has lost their sight. I read this article http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/11/blind-vision-implant/ a couple of years ago. It talks about trying to go beyond capturing general size, shape, and motion in visual prosthetic by recoding the information to a more natural state. If the interface with the brain can be figured out, all kinds of possibilities will open up. Geordi Laforge's visor may be closer than we think.

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    1. Re:Brain Interface by ldobehardcore · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I saw a University of Washington (I get the TV channels) lecture on a study of natural vision coding

      They basically hooked a monkey's optic nerve into a ton of monitoring electrodes, then showed the monkey a set of images while recording. They then programmed a Neural network to replicate the exact same output as the monkey with the same input, and hooked it into blind monkeys testing against the calibration we use today in humans.

      The standard calibration method is the squares test. They send a pulse to each electrode and have the subject point at the relative location on an easel where they see a flash from the activation. So for a 64 electrode system, the subject sees 64 flashes. They're then tested on shapes and sizes of objects (object recognition)

      The blind monkeys were trained this method using the standard equipment and coding, (testing for grapes and dice). But when they split them into two groups, the monkeys with the neural net coding did much better after a couple of weeks after they got their coding replaced with the neuralnet input from a human.

      I don't think there was a stellar control in the study, but the results are intriguing, and I think it merits further research. Perhaps with MRI mapping of how the optic nerve connects to the visual processing area, and how it changes during blindness.

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      Hectice, baby, Mercator says hello to you
    2. Re:Brain Interface by SuricouRaven · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Figure out the coding and feeding directly into the primary visual cortex is feasible. Tricky part is making an implant that can continue to function for many years without needing replacement.

    3. Re:Brain Interface by buybuydandavis · · Score: 2

      But eventually, the bionic eyes will be able to do things a natural eye cannot.

      I, for one, welcome our new cyborg Overlords.

      Better yet, I may be one of your new Cyborg Overlords. Start sucking up to me now, and beat the Christmas rush!

    4. Re:Brain Interface by balsy2001 · · Score: 2

      I would love to see these kinds of solutions work too and stem cells just rock. I think both types of research will provide valuable information and exciting possibilities. Whichever one can restore/provide sight first is great. Who knows there may be some kinds of problems where each solution is superior to the other (whether it be cost, performance, risk, etc.). Even if the brain interface work and electronics aren't really used for vision issues in the future, the methods may become applicable in other areas like robotic prosthesis that connect to the brain.

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  3. Thats Awesome! by MassacrE · · Score: 3, Funny

    But, does it look like a women's hair clip painted gold?

  4. Re:Check out the view with the eye by Zaatxe · · Score: 2

    Slashdot should have a "+1 Troll" mod for this... :-)

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    So say we all
  5. Re:Geordi is going to be pissed by SuricouRaven · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Actually, the series did address that (or it might have been in one of the novels, ask a real trekkie). In the TNG timeframe, medical tech would have been easily up to the task of growing replacement biological eyes and reconnecting them. Geordie could have had that done any time he wished. He took the visor out of choice, because it provided him with vision in some ways superior to natural which he considered made him a better engineer. Most usefully, it could image in the thermal infra-red, allowing him to see at a glance patterns of heat dissipation that others would need hand-held instrumentation to observe, and because he saw these every time he looked at any component he gained a far greater understanding of what 'normal' looked like and how to spot slight deviations from it - allowing him to recognise a near-failure component that any normally-sighted engineer wouldn't notice until it failed completly.