ARTIFICIAL EYE

 

 

artificial eye from Rajeshwari Raji

ARTIFICIAL EYE

this is technology developed for who are suffering from blindness
  There are 10 billion people in the US who are blind or facing blindness due to diseases of the retina… and there’s little that can be done for them. • For the vast majority, their best hope is through prosthetic devices. • The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted market approval to an artificial retina technology, the first bionic eye to be approved for patients in the U.S.

INTRODUCTION

    Scientists claim to have developed a new revolutionary bionic eye that enables blind people to read letters and simple words. • In the mid-20th century, researchers began to explore the idea of creating an artificial eye which could actually see.

    ARTIFICIAL EYE? 

An artificial eye is a prosthesis which is used to replace a missing or damaged eye. • In order to accomplish the goal of creating a visual prosthesis, scientists had to develop a camera which could interact with the brain by stimulating the optic nerve.
  

HOW BRAIN WORKS AFTER SEEING AN IMAGE? 

After seeing an image the brain takes information from the outside world and encodes it in patterns of electrical activity. • After the creating pattern the brain get an visualization of an image. That can we actually seeing the image from our eyes.
   In damaged or dysfunctional retina, the photoreceptors stop working, causing blindness • The absence of effective therapeutic remedies for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

     ARGUS-II DEVICE 

The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System (“Argus II”) is the world’s first approved device intended to restore some functional vision for people suffering from blindness. transmits images from a small, eye-glass- mounted camera wirelessly to a microelectrode array implanted on a patient’s damaged retina.
  

PARTS OF ARGUS II DEVICE

 The System has three parts: • a small electronic device implanted in and around the eye, • a tiny video camera attached to a pair of glasses, • and a video processing unit that is worn or carried by the patient.

       HOW ARGUS II DEVICE WORKS?

 The patient wears glasses with an attached video camera that captures images of the surrounding area.
    These images become an electrical signal which is processed by the video processing unit. The signal is then wirelessly delivered to the eye stimulating the retina
    This electrical stimulation of the retina is recognized by the brain as spots of light.

    When is it used? 

The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System is intended for patients aged 25 years • and older with bare or no light perception vision caused by advanced retinitis pigmentosa

    RESULTS OF THIS SYTEM 

identify the location or movement of objects and people; • recognize large letters, words, or Sentences. • and helped in other activities of daily life, such as detecting street curbs and walking on a sidewalk without stepping off.

 Support for argus ii device

Three government organizations provided support for the development of the Argus II. The Department of Energy, National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation collaborated to provide grant funding totaling more than $100 million, support for material design and other basic research for the project.

  Advantages 

ability to perform visual tasks demonstrated in many patients • Upgradable external hardware and software to benefit from future innovations • the brain has an amazing ability to adapt to new input and to improve his or her understanding of what is being “seen” via an artificial vision system.

   Disadvantages 

The cost of device is too high( $1500)
It is difficult to acquire this technology by common man.