A Bio-Retina Implant That Could Give Laser-Powered Sight To The Blind

Instant Eye, Kevin Hand

Bio-Retina Implant Could Give Laser-Powered Sight To The Blind -- Popular Science

A new bionic eye implant could allow blind people to recognize faces, watch TV and even read. Nano Retina’s Bio-Retina is one of two recent attempts to help patients with age-related macular degeneration, which affects 1.5 million people in the U.S. Although a similar implant, Second Sight’s Argus II, has been on the market in Europe since last year, it requires a four-hour operation under full anesthesia because it includes an antenna to receive power and images from an external apparatus. The Bio-Retina implant is smaller because it doesn’t have an antenna. Instead, the implant captures images directly in the eye, and a laser powers the implant remotely. Because of Bio-Retina’s compact size, an ophthalmologist can insert it through a small incision in the eye in 30 minutes—potentially more appropriate for seniors. The Bio-Retina will generate a 576-pixel grayscale image. And clinical trials could begin as soon as next year.

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My Comment: It will be a few years before this becomes available .... and if things worked out as planned.

'Bionic Eye' Returns Sight To Two Patients

An x-ray of the 'bionic eye' given to Chris James

‘Bionic Eye’ Returns Sight To Two Men After Over 20 Years Of Blindness -- Scotsman

TWO blind men have regained partial sight for the first time in more than 20 years after becoming the first in Britain to be fitted with a “bionic eye”.

Scientists said the first clinical trials of the microchip eye implant, which measures just 3mm across and is fitted behind the eyeball, have proved successful and “exceeded expectations”.

Eye experts developing the pioneering new technology said the first group of British patients to receive the implants were regaining “useful vision” just weeks after undergoing surgery, with one of them describing dreaming “in vivid colour” for the first time in 25 years.

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My Comment: What was a fantasy when The Six Million Dollar Man show was on the air .... is now reality.

Developments In Optometry Can Be Traced Back To The 1st Century AD

Photo: REX FEATURES

From The Telegraph:

The quest to correct and improve vision is one of man's oldest medical challenges.

For as long as people have had vision problems, efforts have been made to correct them.

But little progress was made beyond the development of glasses and contact lenses before the 20th century.

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Eye Implant Allows The Blind To See Again

From The Telegraph:

An eye implant which has returned partial sight to three blind patients has been developed by scientists.

The device is being hailed as an "unprecedented advance" in visual aids, and could revolutionise the lives of 200,000 people who suffer from the degenerative eye condition retinitis pigmentosa.

The hereditary disease means that light receptors in the eye cease to function, impairing vision.

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Micro-Engraved Lenses Give Perfect Vision To Both Near- And Far-Sighted Eyes

Bifocals (Old.) Frank C. Müller

From Popular Science:

Near-sighted? Far-sighted? Middle-sighted? It doesn't matter--this "scratched" lens has you covered.

An inability to see both near and faraway objects isn't uncommon, but the classic solution--bifocals--is hardly cutting-edge. I mean, thanks, Ben Franklin, but how about something more modern? A new type of engraved lens, invented by an Israeli researcher, allows the eye to see perfectly whether the object is nearby or in the distance, without adjusting perspective. No matter your vision, these lenses claim to provide perfect clarity.

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Fix Farsightedness By Sleeping In Your Contacts

Reshaping the Cornea with Contact Lenses Image courtesy of Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

From Popular Science:

What if you could go to sleep with a vision problem and wake up with a crystal-clear view of the world? A Spanish optometrist not only says this is possible, but he actually wants you to sleep in your contacts. His patented contact lenses, designed to achieve the same effect of corneal reshaping surgery, can correct vision defects like myopia (nearsightedness) and stigmatism – and now hyperopia (farsightedness) – without taking sharp instruments or lasers to your eyes.

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Computer-Enhanced Vision Adds A 'Sixth Sense'

In the future you could be reminded about your experiences with people and places just by looking at them. Credit: iStockphot

From Cosmos:

MEGEVE, FRANCE: Picture this: as your eyes alight for the first time on a skyscraper in a foreign cityscape, a disembodied voice whispers in your ear the phone number of a posh bar on the top floor.

Or this: You have been spotted on the street by an old friend whose name suddenly eludes you. But even before there is time to shake hands, a glance at your smartphone reveals her identity and the date of your last encounter.

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Scientists Discover 600 Million-Year-Old Origins of Vision

This is a hydra, an ancient sea creature that flourishes today. (Credit: Todd Oakley, UCSB)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Mar. 12, 2010) — By studying the hydra, a member of an ancient group of sea creatures that is still flourishing, scientists at UC Santa Barbara have made a discovery in understanding the origins of human vision.

The finding is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a British journal of biology.

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Sight Savers: New Weapons Trained On Blindness

From New Scientist:

It starts with a barely perceptible blurring of vision from time to time - the sort of thing you might chalk up to getting older. But when you get it checked out, there is disturbing news: you have a disease called age-related macular degeneration, or AMD.

It can progress slowly or quickly, but there is no cure. Your hopes for an idyllic retirement - reading all those books, driving to new places, or just enjoying a carefree independence - are now clouded by uncertainty.

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Distance Vision Is All A Blur To More Of Us

From L.A. Times:

A study finds that 17% more Americans have myopia than 30 years ago. Close-up computer work could be a reason.

For an increasing number of Americans, life's a blur.

That's according to a population-based study published Monday showing that rates of myopia -- difficulty seeing distant objects -- are soaring. The trend is matched in many other countries, causing eye doctors to wonder what could be causing the decline in human vision.

Some suspect both an increase in our close-up work time (think computer use) and a decrease in time spent outdoors.

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No Need For Specs: Eye Implants Offer ‘Super Vision’

From Times Online:

People who have to wear glasses in middle or old age could have their eyesight restored or even obtain “supervision” with the latest eye implants, a British surgeon says.

Light-adjustable lenses (LAL) offer the prospect of 20/20 vision to thousands of people who become short-sighted or develop cataracts with age.

The lenses are similar to existing lens implants, or intraocular lenses (IOL), used to treat cataracts. But doctors can adjust them after they have been implanted, tailoring the amount of correction to an individual’s needs and potentially eliminating the need for glasses.

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Is Cataract Surgery Scary?

From Live Science:

This Week’s Question: I have to have cataract surgery and I’m a little frightened. Should I be?

I don’t know anyone who isn’t a little frightened by surgery of any kind, but cataract removal is one of the safest and most effective types of surgery. It’s also one of the most common operations performed in the United States. About 9 out of 10 people who have the surgery have improved vision.

A cataract is a clouding of the lens, the clear part of the eye that helps focus images like the lens in a camera. Cataracts can blur images and discolor them.

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Contact Lenses That Respond To Light

Photo: Seeing the light: A new contact lens technology responds to UV light. The contact lens on the left (blue) contains photochromic dyes that darken the lens in the presence of UV light. The contact lens on the right (clear) contains no dyes. Credit: Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology

From Technology Review:

UV-responsive dyes embedded in contact lenses can quickly adapt.

Transition lenses--which darken automatically in response to bright sunlight--have been available for eyeglasses for 40 years. But adapting this flexibility to contact lenses has proven challenging. Now researchers in Singapore have developed UV-responsive, or photochromic, lenses that darken when exposed to ultraviolet light, protecting the eyes against the sun's damaging rays, and return to normal in UV's absence.

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Vision Of The Future: Custom Corneas

Super Sight: The same technology used in the Hubble telescope could offer LASIK patients better sight. Ophthalmologists can use this technology to perform "custom" surgery to correspond to the patient's lifestyle. Getty Images

From Discovery News:

NASA technology that allows the Hubble telescope to focus on distant stars now offers LASIK eye surgery patients customized options for fine-tuned night vision, superior image contrast and sight even beyond 20/20.

Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2001, wavefront technology is the newest LASIK innovation that ophthalmologists are using not only to correct eyesight, but also to peer into the physical structure of patients' eyes and locate the exact sources of their vision problems.

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Researchers Discover Mechanism That Helps Humans See In Bright And Low Light

Illustration of human eye cross section. (Credit: iStockphoto/Nurbek Sagynbaev)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Oct. 14, 2009) — Ever wonder how your eyes adjust during a blackout? When we go from light to near total darkness, cells in the retina must quickly adjust. Vision scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified an intricate process that allows the human eye to adapt to darkness very quickly. The same process also allows the eye to function in bright light.

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Colour Blindness Breakthrough In Gene Therapy Experiment

Squirrel monkey Dalton, who was successfully treated for red-green colour blindness. The image on the left simulates what the scene would have looked like to a monkey or human before the treatment. Photograph: Neitz Laboratory

From The Guardian:

Two squirrel monkeys that were colour-blind from birth have had their vision restored after receiving gene therapy.

The experiment paves the way for the treatment of a range of genetic eye disorders in humans, including some that cause full or partial blindness in millions of people worldwide.

Sam and Dalton, two male squirrel monkeys, were able to see the world in full colour five months after being treated, doctors said. The animals were born without an ability to see the colour red.

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Scientists Cure Color Blindness In Monkeys

A test for color blindness showing a "6". Scientists used gene therapy to cure two squirrel monkeys of color blindness -- the most common genetic disorder in people. (Credit: iStockphoto/Thomas Pullicino)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Sep. 16, 2009) — Researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Florida used gene therapy to cure two squirrel monkeys of color blindness — the most common genetic disorder in people.

Writing online September 15 in the journal Nature, scientists cast a rosy light on the potential for gene therapy to treat adult vision disorders involving cone cells — the most important cells for vision in people.

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How Soldiers Will See In The Dark Without Night Vision Goggles

Image: Dreamstime/Brightqube

Forget the Goggles: Chlorophyll Eye Drops Give Night Vision -- Discover Magazine

What the dragonfish discovered through evolution, the U.S. military wants to apply to the battlefield.

Seeing in the dark could soon be as easy as popping a pill or squeezing some drops into your eyes, thanks to some new science, an unusual deep-sea fish, and a plant pigment.

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My Comment: If this becomes possible .... how war is conducted will certainly change.

Humans Time Blinks So They Don't Miss Information

From The Telegraph:

Humans subconsciously time their blinks so not to miss useful information, scientists have found.

A study of eighteen volunteers found they synchronized their blinks while watching video clips taken from the comedy TV show Mr Bean.

But the same phenomenon did not occur when they viewed a background video or listened to an audio recording of a Harry Potter book.

Dr Tamami Nakano, of Tokyo University, said: "We seem to be unconsciously searching for a good timing for a blink to minimize the chance of losing critical information during the blink."

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The Long And Short Of How Men And Women See

Eye for the ladies: Women are better at short-range focusing, says a study

From The Daily Mail:

If your husband accuses you of missing the bigger picture or your wife says you have no eye for detail, there may be more than an element of truth to it.

Scientists have shown that men are better at processing distant targets, while women
are good at short-range focusing.

The finding reflects the way men and women’s brains evolved thousands of years
ago. Hunters, traditionally the men, needed an ability to spot targets from afar.

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