Bringing Sight to the Blind

This article describes similar research done for the same intentions as the article below; to help the blind to see, but by a different group of researchers, using different methods.

At the Doheny Eye Institute at the Univ. of Southern California, Dr. Humayun has developed a device that can be put into the eye that receives information from an external camera, and stimulates the optic nerves to provide a limited amount of “sight.” Originally, in 2005, this device had 16 electrodes in it, and was 4mm by 5mm. They had implanted it into 6 patients, all of whom gained a small degree of vision. These patients slowly get used to these devices, and eventually got to the point where they could recognize direction of motion.

As of January 2010, Dr. Humayun has been able to fit 60 pixels into a 1mm by 1mm device, greatly improving the quality of vision given to his patients, and giving hope that eventually, the entire device will be able to be implanted, without the use of an external camera. Patients with this device were able to get much more information out of their “eyes”; They could “recognize large objects such as the door, the chair, the table.” They could also read very large letters.

This article interests me because, during my senior year, I met a man who gave a lecture on this research, who worked with Dr. Humayun. I was so impressed by what this man had done, that after hearing the lecture, I was encouraged to major in Biomedical Engineering. I would like to do something along the lines of this research with my degree.

Video Interview with Dr. Humayun: http://www.thirteen.org/curious/survival/artificial-retina-uncut-interview-with-dr-humayun/21/

Sources:

2005: http://www.rdmag.com/Awards/Innovator-Of-The-Year/2005/08/Bringing-Sight-to-the-Blind/

2010: http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=23447