Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are working on a retinal implant that could restore some vision to patients that have lost their sight as a result of retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, two of the more common causes of blindness.
The chip implant would not restore 20/20 vision but would allow patients to recognize faces and move around freely. Researchers believe that if patients can “recognize faces of people in a room, that brings them into the social environment as opposed to sitting there waiting for someone to talk to them”.
Patients using this new technology would be required to wear a pair of eyeglasses that have been fitted with a tiny camera. The camera would send wireless digital images to the microchip within the retinal implant which in turn would send the visual stimuli directly to the brain, bypassing the damaged cells.
This technology, much like the diabetes monitoring tattoo are still many years away before becoming a viable medical treatment.
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 0 comments… add one now }