The future of bionic eyes

Researchers are working towards making vision a reality for blind people. The goal of the new bionic eye technique is to use twin video cameres worn as a pair of glasses to transmit wirelessly to an implant in the breain. Currently reasearch is being done with two approaches. One involves creating images by stimulating the healthy neurons in the retina, and the other approach involves stimulating cells in the cerebral cortex. However, both approaches face challenges. The retina is a fragile membrane and damaging it is a possibility. Likewise, the images provided by the cortex method are not always clear. As nueroscientists at Harvard Medical School looked deeper, they turned their attention to the thalamus. By stimulating regions of a monkeys thalamus, the monkey was able to recognize visual spots on a screen. These findings suggest the thalamus could be the answer, as this approach provides the benefits of the other two methods without the drawbacks.


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