Woman sees light with bionic eye

A prosthetic has given an Australian woman partial sight. It is the first time in the world such a device has been implanted behind the retina

Agencies

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Posted On Friday, August 31, 2012 at 02:06:33 AM

Australian scientists have successfully implanted a “world first” bionic eye prototype, describing it as a major breakthrough for the visually impaired. Bionic Vision Australia (BVA), a government-funded science consortium, said it had surgically installed an “early prototype” robotic eye in a woman with hereditary sight loss caused by degenerative retinitis pigmentosa. Described as a “pre-bionic eye”, the tiny device is attached to Dianne Ashworth’s retina and contains 24 electrodes which send electrical impulses to stimulate her eye’s nerve cells. Researchers switched on the device in their laboratory last month after Ashworth had fully recovered from surgery and she said it was an incredible experience. “I didn’t know what to expect, but all of a sudden, I could see a little flash - it was amazing,” she said in a statement. “Every time there was stimulation there was a different shape that appeared in front of my eye.“ Penny Allen, the surgeon who implanted the device, described it as a “world first”. Ashworth's device only works when it is connected inside the lab and BVA chairman David Penington said it would be used to explore how images were “built” by the brain and eye. Feedback from the device will be fed into a “vision processor” allowing doctors to determine exactly what Ashworth sees when her retina is subjected to various levels of stimulation. “The team is looking for consistency of shapes, brightness, size and location of flashes to determine how the brain interprets this information,” explained Rob Shepherd, director of the Bionics Institute which was also involved in the breakthrough. The team is working towards a “wide-view” 98-electrode device that will provide users with the ability to perceive large objects such as buildings and cars, and a “high-acuity” 1,024-electrode device. Patients with the high-acuity device are expected to be able to recognise faces and read large print, and BVA said it would be suitable for people with retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. Penington said the early results from Ashworth had “fulfilled our best expectations, giving us confidence that with further development we can achieve useful vision”. “The next big step will be when we commence implants of the full devices,” he said. 1 / 2

Coming soon: Gloves that turn gestures into speech

WASHINGTON: Researchers have developed a set of gloves that turn hand gestures into speech using computer technology, offering hope to millions of speech-impaired people to communicate better.
The device consists of a set of sensors, an accelerometre, compass, gyroscope and flex sensors in the fingers, which translate movement into signals that a computer converts into speech. The person wearing the gloves draws a shape in the air and that information is transmitted to them via bluetooth to a smartphone, which matches the shape up against a set stored in memory. A match produces a sound.
The gloves were designed by Pasternikov Anton, Osika Maksim, Yasakov Valeriy and Stepanov Anton, researchers at the Donetsk branch of the 'Step' Computer Academy.
However, the device has certain limitations. Firstly, the gestures stored in the computer are not yet sign language. Morover, sign language is as complex as any other language, and differs from one country to another. So far, the system can only read a dozen or so movements.
Another challenge is durability and usefulness. Most people, deaf or not, don't walk around wearing gloves.

World's first bionic eye helps woman gain sight

MELBOURNE: A blind Australian woman can now see spots of light after being implanted with an early prototype of the world's first bionic eye.
Dianne Ashworth, 54, was the first patient fitted with the device in surgery at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in May, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
It was switched on last month at the Bionics Institute in East Melbourne after her eye had recovered fully from surgery.
"All of a sudden I could see a little flash ... it was amazing. Every time there was stimulation there was a different shape that appeared in front of my eye," Ashworth was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.
In the bionic eye, electrodes are inserted into the retina of vision-impaired patients. The electrodes send electrical impulses to nerve cells in the eye, which occur naturally in people with normal vision.
The device restores mild vision, where patients are able to pick up major contrasts and edges such as light and dark objects. Researchers hope to develop it so blind patients can achieve independent mobility.
In the early prototype bionic eye, the electrodes are connected to a receptor fitted to the back of Ashworth's ear, which is then plugged in through an external wire to a unit in the laboratory.
Australian researchers in the laboratory use the unit to control the information sent to Ashworth's eye, allowing them to study how the brain reacts.
Feedback from Ashworth will allow researchers to develop a vision processor so they can build images using flashes of light.
Bionics Institute director Rob Shepherd said the next step was to test various levels of electrical stimulation. "We are working with Ashworth to determine exactly what she sees each time the retina is stimulated using a purpose-built laboratory at the Bionics Institute," Shepherd said.
"The team is looking for consistency of shapes, brightness, size and location of flashes to determine how the brain interprets this information. Having this unique information will allow us to maximise our technology as it evolves through 2013 and 2014," Shepherd added.