Posts tagged retina
Artificial retina restores mouse vision, humans not far off
Nov 17th
A new type of artificial retina may one day allow blind people to see with much greater detail than today’s prosthetic eyes allow. The new system, described in a study by Sheila Nirenberg and Chethan Pandarinath of the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, was designed to work more like frontline photoreceptor cells naturally do. ”If you want to really restore normal vision, you have to know the retina’s code,” Nirenberg said. “Once you have that, the door is open to the possibility of restoring normal vision.”
In mouse testing, the researchers found the new retina (center photo above) sensed more details of the original image (left) than current systems (right). ”Incorporating the [more accurate] code jumped the system’s performance up to normal levels – that is, there was enough information to reconstruct faces, newsprint, landscapes, essentially anything,” said Nirenberg. Prosthetic eyes may one day benefit over 25 million people worldwide who have lost sight due to retinal diseases– the next step forward is to begin studies in humans.
Source: PhysOrg, ScienceNews
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Eye telescope implant gains FDA approval
Jul 8th
The FDA just approved a tiny implantable telescope meant to assist patients over 75 years old who suffer from end-stage macular degeneration. In a clinical trial with over 200 patients, seventy-five percent of patients with the implant “had their vision improve from severe or profound impairment to moderate impairment.” The manufacturer, VisionCare Opthalmic Technologies, is planning a follow-up study with these patients, along with another one involving 770 new patients.
The device replaces the eye’s natural lens and provides a magnified image (the two available versions offer 2.2x or 2.7x zoom), which is then projected onto a healthy part of the patient’s retina. The implant can only be used in one eye, as the other eye is needed for peripheral vision. Since the brain has to adjust to the implant’s image, patients must go through rehabilitation for the telescope to work. The FDA warns the treatment is still risky and could even necessitate a corneal transplant.
VisionCare says each implant will cost $15,000, so start saving up.
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Apple’s new iPhone 4: A4 CPU, HD video, high-res screen, video chat, 3-axis gyro for $199/299, June 24
Jun 8th
Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 4 at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) yesterday. The phone sports a high-resolution screen, thin new (though repeatedly leaked) design, front-facing camera for video chat, the iPad’s A4 processor, HD video capture and playback, a three-axis gyroscope, and the newly-renamed iOS 4.
The iPhone 4 will be available starting June 24 for $199 (16GB) / $299 (32GB) in either black or white, on a 2-year contract– and yes, it’s still tied to AT&T in the U.S.
Read on for our full coverage of Apple’s fourth-generation iPhone.
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Prototype bionic eye implant unveiled, launching in 2013
Apr 1st
Bionic Vision Australia, in collaboration with a team at the University of New South Wales, has unveiled a working prototype of a bionic eye implant. The system uses an eyeglass-mounted camera and pocket image processor that wirelessly transmit the image to a receiver implanted in the eye. The implant is a chip with 98 electrodes that directly stimulate neurons in the eye’s retina, which can restore some vision to people with optical nerve problems like retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.
The company plans to start clinical trials later this year, with normal patients receiving the implants by 2013.
Full press release after the break.
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