Skip to main content

Bionic eye

By

 The ability to see is something that most of us take for granted. Yet there are almost 285 million visually impaired people in the world with 39 million of them being completely blind.

Blindness can reduce the wuality of one's life by making them dependent on others even for simple tasks.

Thanks to advancements in medical science and technology scientists and researchers are coming up with novel ways to cure blindness.

Bionic Eye gives hope to the blind
Pic credit: industryweek.com


The Bionic eye is for blind people who have damaged optic nerves, which prevent the transmission of visual data from the retina of the eye to the visual cortex of the brain.

The bionic eye developed by the team at Monash University  can bypass these damaged optic nerves by creating an alternate route for the visual data to travel from the retina to the visual cortex of the brain.

Advanced computer models enables improvements in the bionic eye
Pic credit: Scitechdaily.com


Existing technologies are not yet able to do this, which is why the bionic eye developed is expected to be a modern-day scientific miracle.

At present, the bionic eye will not restore complete vision, instead it will allow someone who is blind, the ability to see a highly pixelated image that will help them move without any aid.

How does it work?

The Gennaris bionic vision system, comprises of a number of items that all work as a system together.
Firstly, there is a piece of headgear. These are special glasses that have a camera in place of the glass lens. The camera captures whatever the person looks at. The camera sends visual data to the video processor mounted on the side of the headgear. The vision processor takes the video input coming from the camera and simplifies it into a very basic, pixelated form of video and then sends the output to a wireless transmitter. The visual seen by the person will be in the form of a heavily pixelated image.
This bionic eye is for patients with damage of optic nerve.

The bionic eye from second sight is for patients with retinal damage instead of optic nerves. It is also known as Argus II and it comes with an implantable electrode that has to be surgically inserted under the white part of the eyes.

The electrode receives visual date and then stimulates the light sensitive tissue at the back of the retina to send visual data to the visual cortex. The electrode receives visual data from a wireless transmitter connected to a video processing unit that takes data from a camera.
Just like the bionic eye of Monash Vision Group, Argus II does not restore full sight but it allows the wearer to perceive light and reflections of light.

Till date over 350 people have received Argus II implants.

What do you think about the bionic eye?
Are you excited to see this technology develop further?

Let us know in the comments section below.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you

Popular posts from this blog

Eye Movement Dysfunction

By
The rotational movements of intorsion and extorsion are necessary to keep a viewed object stable and positioned on the appropriate part of the retina as the head is tilted from side to side. To illustrate imagine standing upright and looking at an arrow that is pointing superiorly.  Now tilt your head 45 degrees to the right, does the arrow move with your head? Now point at a 45 degree angle, hopefully not. Because of intorsion and extortion the arrow should still appear to be pointing superiorly. In this case the right eye has been intowarded and the left eye has been equivalently extorted so that the image falls on the same part of the retina as before the head tilt. Obviously our eye has a limited range of intorsion and extorsion. They cannot spin completely around within the orbit. And if we were to stand on our head the arrow would appear to change direction and appear to point inferiorly. Now, lets look at the movements produced by each of the extra oculum muscles. Medial and...
1 comment
Read more

Vision Therapy Exercise for Home

By
In this blog I am going to share vision therapy exercises which anyone can do easily at home. So let's get started.. Before performing this exercises you should have a comprehensive binocular vision exam to find any vision issues that you might have. It is also recommended to perform these exercises with a licensed optometrist about licensed therapists. Exercising your eyes is a lot like exercising your other muscles. Our eyes and our brain can be trained to get stronger performing eye exercises over a period of time. Focusing exercise which will train our eyes focusing ability to help us focus more efficiently for longer periods of time while reading a book or working on the computer. Equipments needed for the exercise: Any of the three objects will work: Detailed sticker on a stick. Pencil with small writing on it. Reading material with small print.   Eye patch. Distance glasses (If glasses are normally worn). Steps for Set Up: Wear an eye patch over one eye or close one eye...
2 comments
Read more

Unleashing Entrepreneurial Potential: Startup Opportunities for Optometrists in the Evolving World of Eye Care

By
Startup Opportunities for Optometrists Introduction: Optometry, a field focused on eye care and vision health, is ripe with entrepreneurial opportunities. Beyond traditional clinical practice, optometrists can harness their expertise and innovative mindset to create startups that bring about revolutionary changes in the industry. In this blog, we will delve into the exciting realm of startup opportunities for optometrists and explore how they can pave the way for transformative advancements in eye care. 1. Mobile Eye Care Clinics:  By establishing mobile eye care clinics, optometrists can reach underserved communities and remote areas with limited access to eye care services. Equipped with portable examination tools and vision screening equipment, these clinics can provide comprehensive eye exams, prescribe corrective eyewear, and detect common eye conditions. Such startups bring eye care directly to communities in need, promoting visual health and reducing barriers to access. 2. O...
2 comments
Read more