International Society of Bionic Engineering-Research Progress

MoreAnnouncement

First Announcement of the International Youth Conference of Bionic Science and …

2023-12-22

The International Youth Conference of Bionic Science and Engineering 2024 (IYCBSE 2024), hosted by the ISBE Youth Commission and jointly organized by Southeast University, Nanjing University of Aeron…

CASE collection for the ISBE website

2023-10-18

In our technical world humans continuously develop the technologies and systems to make life more comfortable and easier. Bionics, the field of translating ideas and concepts found in nature to pract…

Home > content

Research Progress

Australian group advances bionic eye

Post: 2014-09-29 16:05 View:1037

Researchers in Australia have moved a step closer to a functional bionic eye. The team behind the technology hopes it could bring sight to people with degenerative retinal conditions, such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.

The group at Bionic Vision Australia fitted three patients with prototypes of the device in 2012, but until recently, they had only been tested using a series of computer simulations.

Earlier this week (April 30) in Canberra, Australia, patients underwent a trial using the device in a real life setting, navigating a series of obstacles simulating the real world. Patients were reported to have been able to identify and move towards a number of targets, and navigate obstacles in their way.

The bionic eye system consists of a camera mounted in a pair of glasses which transmits a wireless signal to a chip implanted in the patient’s retina. Patients using the technology still need to have a functioning nervous connection able to relay the signal from the retinal cells and along the optic nerve to the brain.

The team is one of only a small number of groups in the world carrying out this type of research, others include a group in Oxford led by Professor Robert MacLaren.

By using a backpack-mounted computer simulator the signal sent to the cells of the retina can be decoded. Professor Nick Barnes of Bionic Vision Australia, explained that this is the first time that computerised interpretation had been done before. He told ABC News: “Its the most sophisticated thats been reported being trialled with patients.”

The images generated by the prototypes vary between patients, with one patient reporting pixelated ‘blobs’, but could provide enough visual information for them to navigate their surroundings.

Dr Chris McCarthy, from National ICT Australia, added: “Were actually trying to stimulate the cells that are still there, that are still healthy, so that we create that percept in [the patient’s] brain of seeing things.”

The above story is based on materials by Optometry Today.

Read more: http://www.optometry.co.uk/news-and-features/news/?article=5899

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above,